Former Top Mourdock Aide Loses Boone County Judicial Race

Jim Holden, a former chief of staff and general counsel to Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock and former manager of Mourdock's campaigns, lost his bid to become a superior court judge in Boone County. Boone County deputy prosecuting attorney Bruce Petit beat out Holden by a margin of 52-47% in the superior court judge 2 race in yesterday's primary election The race between the rival candidates became very heated in the closing days as the two candidates' campaigns traded barbs against one another. Holden accused supporters of Petit of falsely accusing him of assaulting a journalist during a political event during Mourdock's unsuccessful 2012 Senate race and stealing data from a politically-sensitive database maintained by the Indiana State Republican Party during that same race. Holden also accused Petit's campaign supporters of stealing campaign yard signs. Petit's supporters accused Holden of running a negative campaign by dragging up Petit's drunk driving arrest more than 25 years ago for which he was reprimanded by the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission.