Photo: Robert D. Ward (Wikipedia Commons)
Lugar's GOP challenger Richard Mourdock says the incumbent doesn't meet the office's residency requirement.
The Indiana Election Commission will hear arguments next Friday on whether Richard Lugar‘s home outside Washington, D.C. means he is no longer an Indiana resident. Tea Party groups backing Lugar‘s rival, State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, had been demanding a hearing, but it was not until late Thursday that anyone submitted formal paperwork.
The panel will also consider whether presidential candidate Rick Santorum (R-PA) and gubernatorial hopeful Jim Wallace (R-Fishers) should be kicked off the ballot. Both fell short of the required 500 petition signatures in Indiana‘s seventh congressional district, but both contend the fault lies with Marion County voter registration officials who improperly disallowed signatures they should have counted.
Five Indiana House candidates face challenges. Three are alleged to live outside their districts, while two Republican candidates face claims they are ineligible because they‘re registered Democrats.
