Let me introduce everyone to a name that most people probably have never heard of but should know: Nels Ackerson. Nels is currently running for Congress in Indiana's 4th Congressional District against Republican incumbent Steve Buyer. Now I know that we have to pick and choose our battles, so I'm not bitter that Nels is not on the Orange->Blue list or on the DCCC's Red->Blue list. In fact, given previous cycles in IN-04 this is pretty understandable. But follow me over the fold and I'll attempt to introduce you to Nels Ackerson, explain why he is an absolutely fantastic candidate, but more importantly, why I think that he can even win this race. We all love darkhorses don't we? I must confess that I am somewhat astonished that this race has received almost no attention from anyone, and that's why I'm writing this diary. Consider it DKos on the cutting edge. If someone can point me to some resources where this race has received some attention that I am merely overlooking I whole-heartedly welcome it.
Ok, so a little background on Nels courtesy of the one-stop shop.
Ackerson was raised on his family’s farm in Westfield, Indiana and attended Westfield public schools from elementary through high school. He attended Purdue University where he earned a B.S. in Agricultural Economics. During his freshman year at Purdue, Ackerson served as Indiana State President of the Future Farmers of America. Prior to his sophomore year at Purdue, he took a leave of absence to serve as the National President of the Future Farmers of America, helping to lead the FFA into racial integration through a merger with the New Farmers of America, which had been a parallel organization for African-American students in the South.
While at Purdue, Ackerson was also a member of the Farm House Fraternity and was elected Student Body President. At graduation he received the G.A. Ross award given to Purdue’s most outstanding male graduate.
Ackerson attended Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, receiving a Master in Public Policy degree, and the Harvard Law School, where he received a J.D. and was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Ackerson lives in Zionsville, Indiana. He is a practicing Presbyterian and has been married to his wife Sharon for 24 years.
Interested Yet? Okey, here's some more:
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Ackerson joined the Indianapolis law firm Barnes, Hickam, Pantzer & Boyd (now Barnes & Thornburg). He moved to Washington DC in 1976 to work under Indiana Senator Birch Bayh serving on the staff of U.S. Senate as Chief Counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution.
In 1979 Ackerson returned to Indiana and became a partner in the Noblesville law firm of Campbell Kyle Proffitt. Ackerson made an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 1980, the year of the Reagan landslide.
In 1982 Ackerson became a partner at the Chicago based law firm of Sidley & Austin. He opened the firm’s office in Cairo, Egypt, the first American law firm in that country. Ackerson was managing partner of the firm’s office in Egypt before returning to the United States.
In 1991 Ackerson left Sidley Austin and founded The Ackerson Group (Now Ackerson Kauffmen Fex). The law firm specializes in the areas of complex trial and appellate litigation, government relations, international law, constitutional law, property rights, and eminent domain. The firm has been widely recognized for its advocacy of farmer and landowner rights in a nationwide series of lawsuits protesting the illegal seizure of railway corridors.
Ackerson is a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court and of several federal district courts and federal courts of appeal. He has represented clients in courts in more than 20 states, and has tried cases throughout the United States.
Ackerson has participated in international trade and development missions on behalf of the United States on several occasions, including serving as a member of the USDA Trade and Development Mission to Egypt and Yemen, and a member of the U.S. Advisory Delegation to the Soviet Union on the Transition to a Market Economy.
Now that we have established that Nels is a great guy and an extremely distinguished candidate who seems to me to have a fairy-tale perfect biography for this district, let's talk about IN-04 and his chances of making this a competitive race.
First of all, as I noted in the Intro, this race is not on the Orange->Blue list or on the DCCC's Red->Blue list. Charlie Cook rates this race as Solidly Republican. IN-04 has a shockingly steep PVI of R+17, making it the 23rd most Republican CD in the Country. It is for this reason that I think the race has gone unnoticed. So why am I talking about this race, especially considering that I'm not from Indiana and otherwise don't have any particular vested interest in it ?
Well, besides the absolutely fantastic biography of Nels, there are some encouraging indicators that have aroused my interest. We all know that there are many great candidates out there that just don't get traction and therefore fly under the radar. The number one reason, as we all know, is Money. But take a look at those fundraising numbers and you'll see something very interesting. Up through the last reporting of April 16, 2008, Nels actually outraised Buyer $308,602.00-$301,129.00! Nels is also doing it the right way, considering that 88% of his money raised is from individual contributions--in stark contrast to Buyer's 79% coming from PAC's. Buyer does have more COH than Nels and I will be very interested to see the updated fundraising numbers in this race, but needless to say, Nels has done a terrific job in fundraising and hopefully as this race receives more attention, his numbers will get only better.
While the PVI of R+17 in IN-04 seems pretty daunting, we should remember the fantastic year we had in Indiana in 2006 capturing IN-02, IN-08, and IN-09 (It should also be noted that Montagano's challenge in IN-03 is not going unnoticed as it is in the DCCC's "Emerging Races"). All of these Congressional District have Republican favored PVI's, yet the Democrats were successful. Brad Elsworth's IN-08 District has a PVI of R+9. Baron Hill's IN-09 District has a PVI of R+7. Joe Donnely's IN-02 District has a PVI of R+4. And Montagano's challenge against Congressman Souder in IN-03 is R+16. Point being, that Democrats winning Republican-favored Congressional Districts in Indiana is nothing new or unthinkable. Given the incredible Democratic turnout in this year's Indiana primary, and Obama's very real chance to make Indiana competitive, or to even out-right win Indiana this year, also makes this race that much more interesting.
Now, it goes without saying that Buyer is worth replacing, but I thought two things about him are interesting to point out to everyone. First of all, Buyer ACTUALLY advocated using Nuclear Weapons against Afghanistan. I'm not joking.
Speaking to reporters for WTHR at Indianapolis International Airport, he said, "I would support the use of a limited, precision tactical nuclear device be on the table as an option for discussion.... When there are hardened caves that go back a half a mile... don't send in Special Forces to sweep. We'd be naive to think biotoxins are not in there. Put in tactical nuclear devices and close these caverns for a thousand years."
Add to that the fact that he voted against the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, more specifically his objections to Senator McCain's "No Torture" Amendment, and we're talking about some real issues to run against Mr. Buyer.
In the past week Lee Hamilton has officially endorsed Nels according to the Hoosier Political Report and Nels is conducting a vigorous campaign from everything I can tell.
So, I just wanted to throw this race out there and give everyone a heads-up on what I see as an emerging race that isn't getting the attention it deserves. Maybe things will change and more attention will be given. While it isn't my intention, maybe Kos, brownsox, or Steve will give it some attention here and we can get this race on the Orange -> Blue list. Maybe the DCCC will notice. Who knows. In any event, thoughts always welcome.