BRIAN HOWEY: Clowning around with Chocola, Mourdock

Chris Chocola is not a clown.

Conservative group to demand lawmakers approve Pence income tax cut

INDIANAPOLIS | A debate between leaders of the Republican-controlled General Assembly and Republican Gov. Mike Pence over whether Indiana can afford Pence's campaign promise to reduce the state's income tax rate by 10 percent is about to go public in a big way.

Richard Lugar's next chapter: A Q&A with Indiana's longest-serving U.S. senator

WASHINGTON | Richard Lugar takes a seat at a well-worn circular conference table. In an office filled with shiny, new fixtures, it's a notable relic from his 36-year career in the Senate.

Joe Donnelly

Democrat Joe Donnelly thanks supporters after winning the U.S. Senate seat over Republican Richard Mourdock at an election night celebration in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Donnelly triumphed in one of the nation's most tumultuous Senate races, capitalizing on fallout over his tea pa…

Mr. Lugar stays in Washington

WASHINGTON | The Dupont Circle office building is just 2-1/2 miles from the U.S. Capitol, where Richard Lugar built a legacy of statesmanship over the past 36 years.

Donnelly takes oath to represent Indiana in U.S. Senate

INDIANAPOLIS | Demonstrating the bipartisanship he's promised will define his tenure in office, U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., was sworn in Thursday with two of Indiana's former U.S. senators — Republican Dick Lugar and Democrat Evan Bayh — standing beside him.

Year-end Indiana stories

Indiana enacts right-to-work law despite loud objections

Lugar era ends after 36 years in Senate

INDIANAPOLIS | For the first time in a generation, U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., will not be seated at his desk in the ornate Senate chamber when a new Congress convenes on Thursday.

BRIAN HOWEY: Valuable state debates need some tweaking

Hoosier voters are extremely fortunate. It may seem like a very minor point, but we have the Indiana Debate Commission, a group of journalists and academics that formed in 2007 to provide a fitting forum for decision making in gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races.

Deadly shootings dominate headlines in 2012

A look back at the events that shaped the past year:

Joe Donnelly, Richard Mourdock

This Oct. 15, 2012 file photo shows Indiana Senate candidates, Democrat Joe Donnelly, left, and Republican Richard Mourdock talk after participating in a debate in Indianapolis. Donnelly defeated Mourdock, seizing upon the Republican's awkward debate comment that pregnancy resulting from rap…

BRIAN HOWEY: Daniels era has obliterated Indiana Democrats

From a political perspective, the decade-long "Mitch Daniels era" has been devastating for Indiana Democrats.

MARK KIESLING: Lake County should pay the tax piper now, or pay him later

Lake County's little toe is in the pond of debt, and it makes me wonder how long it's going to be until the county starts going down for the third time.

Results of Lake County's 2012 general election

This report shows the unofficial results of Lake County's Nov. 6, 2012, general election.

BRIAN HOWEY: Positives, negatives of campaign 2012

On Election Day, as I headed to my office to watch the returns, I stopped to pick up some Chinese carryout.

Misreading electorate likely cost Mourdock Senate victory

INDIANAPOLIS | Republican Richard Mourdock has never changed who he is or what he believes for the sake of higher office, and likely never will.

The Democratic empire strikes back

CROWN POINT | The Lake County Democratic party reasserted its overwhelming influence on local government.

MARK KIESLING: Baggage can sink the ship, but then again maybe not

The captain of the H.M.S. Titanic had his iceberg, and the Indiana Republican Party had its Richard Mourdock.

Donnelly elected to U.S. Senate; rape comments haunt Mourdock

INDIANAPOLIS | A message of moderate bipartisanship and a major campaign misstep by his opponent helped elect Democrat Joe Donnelly to the U.S. Senate.

Candidates canvass Indiana for votes on eve of election

INDIANAPOLIS | The candidates for statewide office criss-crossed Indiana on Monday, with more stops set for Tuesday, reaching out to Hoosiers one final time to explain why they deserve to be elected.

Inside INdiana Business

Date set for opening

Mourdock team attacks poll, ignores Donnelly

INDIANAPOLIS | Faced with poll results showing Republican Richard Mourdock is likely to lose Indiana's U.S. Senate race, Mourdock's campaign on Friday all but ignored his opponent, Democrat Joe Donnelly, and instead launched a bizarre assault on the poll itself.

Results of Oct. 28-30 Howey/DePauw Indiana Battleground Poll

DOUG ROSS: Poll shows social conservatism doesn't resonate in Indiana

For all the talk about Indiana being a conservative state, the latest Howey/DePauw Battleground Poll results add some nuance. Hoosiers are fiscally conservative, yes, but socially conservative, not so much. 

Poll: Donnelly takes 11-point lead; governor race tightening

INDIANAPOLIS | Republican Richard Mourdock's controversial debate remark that pregnancies caused by rape are "something that God intended to happen" may have doomed his bid to represent Indiana in the U.S. Senate, according to the Howey/DePauw Indiana Battleground Poll released Friday.