Eight-term Congressman Mark Souder announced his resignation this morning after it came to light that he had an affair with a female staffer who worked in his northern Indiana district office.
Souder issued a statement to the media about the affair.
Souder (R-Fort Wayne) won 49 percent of the vote during the May 4 primary in the eight-county northeast Indiana district, defeating Gregory (Greg) Dickman (R-Auburn), who received 3 percent, Bob Thomas, (R-Fort Wayne) received 34 percent, and Phillip J. (Phil) Troyer (R-Fort Wayne) received 14 percent.
Souder was to face Democrat candidate Tom Hayhurst (D-Fort Wayne) in the November election.
In Kosciusko County, Souder received 4,775 votes, or 48.24 percent.
During an interview with the Times-Union this morning Allison McSherry, Souder's constituent liaison, who has an office at the Boathouse in Winona Lake, confirmed she participated in a conference call with Souder this morning.
She said Souder informed staffers that he will submit his letter of resignation Friday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
McSherry declined to comment further on the issue.
"He is my boss until Friday and I choose not to comment," McSherry said.
Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita outlined procedures for filling vacant congressional seats and party nominations for the November ballot.
Rokita outlined the following procedures today upon learning of the resignation of Congressman Souder.
Under Indiana Code 3-10-8-1(3), the seat will remain vacant until a special election is held.
Unlike the U.S. Senate where vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment, there is no appointment to fill a vacancy in the U.S. House. Under Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, vacancies in the U.S. House must be filled by special election.
A resignation must be submitted to the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Typically, a resignation will indicate its effective date.
After the Governor is notified of the resignation, the Governor will then issue a writ of election that must specify the date of the special election (IC 3-10-8-3). There is no deadline specified by statute for the Governor's writ to be issued.
However, the combination of deadlines set by state law for nominating candidates and absentee ballot voting makes it mathematically impossible for a special election to occur earlier than 60 days after a vacancy occurs in the office of U.S. Representative.
Major political parties, i.e. Republicans and Democrats, will select candidates to be on the special election ballot by caucus. Within 30 days of the vacancy, the state party chairmen must call their caucuses, composed of precinct committeemen within the congressional district, who will nominate and elect their party's candidate (IC 3-13-1-7(a)(2)).
A person who wants to become a candidate must file a declaration of candidacy with the chairman of their party's caucus, in this case, state party chairs, and the Secretary of State or Indiana Election Division.
These candidates could include a Libertarian Party candidate, who would be entitled to be placed on the special election ballot without petitioning. The Libertarian Party must give 10 days' notice of its intent to nominate a candidate (IC 3-13-1-20), and file the certification of its nominee no later than noon, 50 days before the election (IC 3-8-7-15).
These candidates could also include independent candidates or candidates of other minor party candidates, who gain access to the special election ballot by gathering petition signatures.
The total number of signatures needed by petition candidates would be equal to two percent of the total votes cast for all four secretary of state candidates in the most recent general election (in November 2006). A petition of nomination must be filed with the Indiana Election Division no later than noon 50 days before the date of the election (IC 3-8-6-13).
Once candidates are nominated and certified to the Indiana Election Division, each county within the district is responsible for holding the special election.
Ballots have to be printed, absentee voting must be available, and poll workers have to be recruited and appointed. Voter registration closes 29 days before the special election is held (IC 3-10-8-9).
Any costs involved with the special election are paid for by the county in accordance with normal election procedures (IC 3-5-3-1).
The individual elected in the special election would serve the remainder of the term which will end noon, January 3, 2011 (20th Amendment to the US Constitution).
This special election for the remainder of the current term (2010-2011) will not affect the election later this year for the 2011-2013 term. A candidate nominated at the May 4, 2010 primary may choose to withdrawal from the General Election ballot by filing a statement to that effect on the prescribed form with the Election Division no later than noon, July 15, 2010.
The resulting candidate vacancy for the General Election ballot will be filled by a caucus of precinct committeemen whose precincts are within the congressional district. The party must fill the vacancy within 30 days after the withdrawal occurs.
Any individual who was defeated in the May 4, 2010 Republican primary would be allowed to file as a candidate at both the special election and to fill the ballot vacancy for the full two year term.
The last time a special election for Congress was held in Indiana was on March 11, 2008, when U.S. Representative Andre Carson was elected in the 7th Congressional District for the seat vacated by Julia Carson, who passed away earlier in the year.
