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Two longtime local party activists were honored Saturday at the state Democratic convention.
Former Warsaw mayor H. Dale Tucker was named honorary state chairman at the biannual event in Indianapolis. Fellow Democrat Charlie Cain was named honorary sergeant at arms.
"It was a quite an honor and a complete surprise to me," Tucker said of the recognition. He served as mayor from 1976 to 1979.
"It's just a really nice honor for Dale," said county Democratic chairman Steve Haines.
While he was appreciative of the honor his party bestowed upon him, Tucker said the biannual gathering of the party has lost some of its luster for him.
"These conventions just aren't as much fun as they used to be, when they had the nominations and the votes were all done on the floor," he said. "Now, everything is decided before and the approved by acclamation."
Fund-raising difficulties would also be alleviated by a return to the days when primaries didn't exist and the party's nominations were convention-centered, Tucker said.
"When you have the gubernatorial candidate having to go to the well twice - once for the primaries and once for the general election, it just makes it very hard," he said.
In terms of the local races, both Tucker and Haines like their party's chance for this year's general election, citing the sheriff's race as their most promising prospect for victory.
"We're pretty excited about the state ticket, with Evan Bayh leading the way," Haines said. "We're also very excited about Jeff Bronsing's chances in the sheriff's race."
Riding that enthusiasm, Haines and Tucker will host an open house from 6 to 9 p.m. July 22 to celebrate the opening of the new Kosciusko County Democratic Headquarters at 107 E. Market St., Warsaw.
"We're hoping for more exposure with the new headquarters," Haines said. "We haven't had a headquarters for years, so this is a wonderful development for the party in the county."
