Maureen Hayden: Buoyed by Gregg, Dems seek to cut super majorities

INDIANAPOLIS
– Democrats buoyed by the prospect of retaking the governor’s office
have their eyes on another prize at the Statehouse – breaking the
Republicans’ super-majority hold on the General Assembly. On
Tuesday, Democrats must flip five of 71 House seats now held by
Republicans to crack the GOP’s two-thirds holds of the 100-member House.
There is little chance of denting Republicans’ 40 to 10 super-majority
in the Senate. Breaking the super-majority is significant.
With two-thirds of the seats or more, Republicans have the quorum
necessary to conduct business in both chambers, and pass any law,
without a single Democrat even showing up. Republicans who’ve
had the super-majority since 2012 take the threat to their coalition
seriously, especially with recent polls showing Democrat John Gregg
ahead of Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb in the governor’s race, though
the WTHR/Howey Politics Indiana Poll on Friday shows the race a dead
heat at 42%. As of mid-week, the state Republican House
Campaign Committee had spent more than $1.4 million on a handful of key
races – five times what the less-resourced House Democratic Caucus
Committee had spent.
Source: Howey Politics