Three candidates were on hand at the Pizza King, Winona Avenue, Warsaw, Monday night to address the Kosciusko County Democrats.
The first to speak was Tamyra D'Ippolito, who is seeking enough signatures to run in the primary against Sen. Evan Bayh.D'Ippolito was on a committee this summer to try and find a candidate to run against Bayh. She said the committee tried the likes of Larry Bird, David Letterman and Jane Pauley to no avail.
By Nov. 7, D'Ippolito decided to run herself and since then has been in search of the 4,500 signatures needed by Feb. 16 to compete against Bayh.
Originally from Greene County and a 1981 Indiana State University graduate, she traveled around the country before finally settling back in Indiana in 2004.
She said there is a disconnect between the people of Indiana and Bayh.
"I'm running for a lot of reason," said D'Ippolito. "I think we can do a lot better. We want someone who is working for the people of Indiana."
D'Ippolito calls herself an old-fashioned Democrat who is in favor of health care reform with a public option. She also said she is pro-gun.
Her main platform Monday night was to bring more jobs to Indiana and cited more manufacturing and "green" jobs.
For more information on D'Ippolito, visit www.tamyraforsenate.com
Next to speak was Sam Locke, who is running for state auditor.
Locke acknowledged that he is facing an uphill battle. A Democrat hasn't held the auditor's position in 30 years.
Locke said his goal is to bring more transparency to the way the state is spending taxpayer money.
He said the current system is such that a public records request can take more than a month to be processed.
"I think we can do better," said Locke. "This is a very winnable race."
Locke lives in Southern Indiana while working in Louisville, Ky., as the manager of funds development for the National Headquarters of the Presbyterian Church.
For more information on Locke, visit savewithsam.org
The last speaker of the night was Vop Osili. Osili is running for secretary Of state.
Osili said his parents named him Vop because it stands for "Voice of the People." But it was not for any political aspirations.
"I asked my 85-year-old mother, when she named me, did she have any idea that I'd run for public office," said Osili. "She said no, you just talked a lot."
Osili is the owner of a architecture firm in Marion County.
The company has expanded worldwide. Osili said when his company expanded he filled those jobs with Hoosiers.
He said one area the secretary of state's office could improve was in helping connect small businesses to resources.
Osili also took issue with Indiana's voter ID laws, which he called "the strictest" in the country.
"If you want to guard against voter fraud, then why not ratchet up the penalty? Make it a Class C felony while turning down the restrictions."
When asked by a audience member, Osili said that in the state's history not a single person has been charged with voter fraud.
"What separates us is the freedom we have as voters," said Osili. "In Indiana, we've made it one of the toughest things we can do and it's wrong."
For more information on Osili, visit votvop.com
The food drive sponsored by the county Democrats was pushed back to Feb. 1 because of the weather, which kept some from Monday night's meeting. Those attending the February meeting are asked to bring in canned-food items.
It was also announced Monday night that Brenda Edling will seek the trustee position for Seward Township.
