Primary To Choose Democrat Opposition In Govenor's Race

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(UNDATED) - It’s official: Democrats will have a primary battle to choose their nominee to face Governor Mitch Daniels.

CSO Schenkelshultz CEO Jim Schellinger and former Congresswoman Jill Long Thompson each met Tuesday's deadline to turn in 500 petition signatures from each of Indiana's nine congressional districts. Once the count is verified, they'll be on the ballot.

Earlier, some Schellinger backers declared Thompson should drop out. But polls show both running a competitive race against Daniels.

Schellinger says a contested primary won't change his focus. He says he's visited all 92 counties since announcing his candidacy last spring, and will continue to travel the state.

Like Thompson, Schellinger is blasting Daniels' property-tax relief plan, complaining a sales-tax hike would hit low-income Hoosiers harder, and charging the plan has pitted state and local government against each other. He says he'd bring all stakeholders together to agree on a solution.

Schellinger predicts Indiana hasn't heard the last of daylight saving time as a campaign issue. Schellinger says the issue of changing the clocks is settled now, but says many voters remain angry about the legislative battle that made the switch a reality.

Daniels is unopposed for the Republican nomination. A Bedford firefighter who had said he would run never filed his signatures, and has endorsed Daniels instead.

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