Anyone hoping for a quick resolution to the petition challenging the candidacy of Judge Ken Scheibenberger – and that likely includes both the judge and his supporters as well as his opponents – may be disappointed.

The petition was filed not with the Allen County Election Board – which infamously cleared Matt Kelty of any campaign finance irregularities in a partisan 2-1 vote – but with the Indiana Election Commission. Though the judges are elected in a countywide vote, they are state officers. So it’s state, not local, election officials who have jurisdiction.

As the Political Notebook column pointed out Sunday, the state commission is without a chairman and will meet only if all three remaining members agree. That commission has two Democrats and, when fully filled, two Republicans. Given the partisan nature of the filing against Scheibenberger, the commission may well wait until a new member is appointed. That could happen soon, but it isn’t clear how long it would take for the commission to schedule a meeting to weigh the petition.

One person who is probably glad it will be the state commission handling the matter is Therese Brown, who – as county clerk – is automatically a member of the county election board and must work closely with the courts because the clerk is entrusted with the court files.

First candidate

With the deadline to file for the four Fort Wayne Community Schools board seats on this year’s ballot now just 10 days away, a candidate has finally emerged – Joe Sablic, who has previously sought county-level offices as a Democrat. The manufacturer’s representative and former business owner has also been an advocate for veterans – and a school bus driver.

“I can save them millions of dollars,” he said of FWCS. Sablic is seeking the District 4 position now held by Kevin Brown.

Will he run?

Gov. Mitch Daniels was invited to appear on Fox News on Sunday, billed as one of the “prime contenders for the GOP nomination for president.” But he downplayed a presidential run, said he’s turned down invitations to visit New Hampshire and Iowa and is focusing on running Indiana.

When asked, Daniels did not back down from his comment that conservatives should follow a truce in pushing social issues while the nation addresses economic issues. The governor, who has long emphasized fiscal over social policy, did so on the Fox show, including a statement that will earn criticism.

“We are practicing child abuse in a literal sense,” he said regarding the coming debt for Social Security and government programs that are running on borrowed money. Social workers, judges, teachers and others who have dealt with real child abuse victims would beg to differ.