Jasper Man Wants To Unseat State Representative

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(JASPER) - State legislative elections are 15 months away, but the owner of a Jasper heating and plumbing contractor is already launching his bid to unseat a Democratic state representative.

Mark Messmer says he decided to challenge Representative Dave Crooks (D-Washington) after House Democrats omitted all funding for the major moves highway construction package from their first version of the new state budget. He says the extension of I-69 to Southwest Indiana is too important for what he calls "political games."

Crooks says that February vote was an early step in the budget process. He points out that on the final vote on the budget, which included full highway funding, every Republican voted no. GOP legislators complained there wasn't enough money for property-tax relief.

Crooks says he expects to decide in the next month whether to run for a seventh term. After a 559-vote win in 2004, he cruised to reelection last year with 62% of the vote.

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