House District 90 Primary Race Shaping Up

City-County Councilor Mike Speedy is planning to run for the House District 90 seat currently represented by Rep. Mike Murphy (R-Indianapolis), who has decided to run for the 5th District congressional seat of U.S. Rep. Dan Burton. No sooner had Speedy made his intentions known than another name surfaced. I'm hearing that Tim Ping, husband of Marion Co. GOP Vice Chair Jennifer Ping, is also interested in the District 90 race. Folks may recall that Speedy successfully bucked the party and defeated the slated candidate in his council district when he first ran for that office in 2003. Some observers think Speedy, who has generally been viewed as one of the more fiscally conservative members of the council, made a serious misstep in voting for the $27 million tax, spend and borrow bailout of the CIB. It will be interesting to see if that vote becomes an issue for him in his House bid next year. His announcement noted his support for a constitutional amendment to make the property tax caps permanent.