MARK KIESLING: Tri-Town House battle brews

The recent Republican-led Indiana House redistricting is going to lead to some very interesting contests and none more interesting locally than the 15th District.

That's the newly drawn district that will represent most of St. John Township, including Dyer, Schererville and St. John.

On the Democratic side, the newest information is that former Lake County Councilman Tom O'Donnell, who served three four-year terms, plans on entering the race.

This could pit O'Donnell against Indiana's longest-serving legislator, state Rep. Chet Dobis, who has 21 terms in the General Assembly and who recently bought a townhome in the Briar Ridge subdivision where O'Donnell lives.

Unlike Dobis, O'Donnell has lived there 15 years; Dobis bought the townhome in August and signed a homestead exemption claiming it as his principal place of residence.

But word from the government center, that hotbed of rumor and speculation, is that Dobis has been going around telling people he is not moving from Merrillville and will face state Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, in a showdown.

He has allegedly told people he can beat Smith in a district that is made up of Gary's Glen Park neighborhood and north Merrillville, which are mostly black.

Sorry, Chet: You are whistling in the graveyard if you believe that. Like it or not, a lot of people of all races and ethnic backgrounds tend to vote for "their own kind."

He stands a much better chance in the white majority area of the Tri-Town area, but first he's going to have to beat O'Donnell in the primary, certainly not a given.

There is a lot of speculation in St. John Township that the district was redrawn under the leadership of House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, to favor Republican Hal Slager, a Schererville town councilman.

Slager is a protege of Indiana's GOP fundraising king, former state Rep. Dan Dumezich of Schererville, who raised more money for Mitt Romney in a fundraiser this year than did an Indianapolis event sponsored by the Indiana Republican Party.

This could and likely will pit Slager against Hank Adams, the former St. John Township assessor who last year became Lake County's first elected countywide Republican officeholder since the 1950s.

Adams knows his election was a fluke. His opponent, Carol Ann Seaton, was charged during the election with a felony related to lying about her residency. Not that a felony is a kiss of death for a Democrat in Lake County, but she also was not the party's chosen candidate, so she was left to the wolves.

"I think it would be enjoyable to run," said O'Donnell, who said he has spoken to Senate Majority Leader Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, about his candidacy and has been encouraged.

Dobis has not commented on his move, why he did it and whether it's still in the works. "Chet likes to play golf," O'Donnell said. "and Briar Ridge has a nice golf course."

Maybe that's the real story. We will keep an eye on it.

The opinions are those of the writer. He can be reached at mark.kiesling@nwi.com or (219) 933-4170.