Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Allen Dunnagan and Larry Rensberger recently announced candidacies for Indiana House District 22 on the Democratic ticket
Though each man agrees the state's government can be run more efficiently, the candidates are using different levels of aggression to express their concerns. The winner of the May 2 primary will challenge Bill Ruppel (R-North Manchester) in the November general election.
Rensberger is challenging Ruppel because he believes Governor Mitch Daniels "totally disregarded the people of Indiana" during his term.
He said he feels Daniels has taken Indiana in the wrong direction with daylight saving time, license bureaus closing, both in North Manchester and Syracuse, and the push for a 75-year lease of the toll road.
"The toll road lease will mean the loss of more billions of dollars than any of us can imagine," Rensberger said in a press release. "There are more items that our current representative has rubber stamped for Governor Daniels.
"We can and must do better than having a representative that does not fully represent you and I."
Rensberger, a 1957 graduate of North Manchester High School, has been in sales all his working life. He began with Coca-Cola and then shifted to agricultural sales.
Rensberger's civic activities include being president of the Decatur and Angola Optimist Clubs, a member of the Kosciusko County Masonic Lodge and the Scottish Rite. He is also a member of The Calvary United Methodist Church, Syracuse.
Rensberger has been a 4-H leader, Little League coach, PTO President and served in the United States Marine Corp. He is currently serving with the Indiana Guard Reserve as a volunteer.
Dunnagan, a union president for Indiana's steel workers, decided last week to run for state representative with the goal of improving conditions for Indiana workers.
He said both the healthcare and manufacturing crisises the state currently faces need to be addressed in order to halt the state's job loss, a downward slide Indiana has faced since 2000.
Dunnagan wants insurance available for every Hoosier, a level playing field for trade with China and an increase in Indiana workmen's compensation, which is one of the lowest in the U.S.
"I think we should have free trade but fair trade," he said. "We have to get a level playing field for the better of our workers. We lose a lot of good paying jobs every year to these factors."
Dunnagan, Wabash, is a councilman-at-large for the Miami Indians of Indiana, and said he is a distant relative of Francis Slocum. Slocum was a Quaker girl known for being kidnapped by the Miami Indians in the 1700s and reunited with her family 57 years later.
He also has lobbied in Washington, D.C., to Indiana's steel-worker rights.
A 1985 graduate of Walbash High School, he also coached football and basketball for the town's school system.
"I just think we can do better, as a state, in a lot of areas," Dunnagan said. "So vote for Big Al."
