With Indiana becoming more relevant in the race for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency and the fact that super delegates will likely determine who wins the nomination, here’s the list of the Indiana’s super delegates and where they stand…

Hilary Clinton (5) – Senator Evan Bayh, State Chairman Dan Parker, Joe Andrew (Former National Chairman), Phoebe Crane (DNC Member), Robert Pastrick (DNC Member)

Barak Obama (2) – Cordelia Lewis-Burks (State Vice-Chair), Connie Thurman (DNC Member)

Uncommitted (4) – Rep. Pete Visclosky (IN-1) , Rep. Baron Hill (IN-9), Rep. Brad Ellsworth (IN – 8), Rep. Joe Donnelly (IN-2).

If Andre Carson were to win the 7th Congressional District he would also become a super delegate.  However he has not stated publicly who he would support for President.

Indiana holds its primary on May 6.

As the candidates for the 7th Congressional District go into the final weekend of campaigning before the election, Republican Jon Elrod has unveiled his television ad.

Democrat Andre Carson is planning to do a tour of all the townships in the 7th District.  I  interviewed him this afternoon and will have it for you on Monday on Newstalk 1430.

Libertarian Sean Shepard  is also campaigning this weekend as well.

Indiana House Democrats are offering up a one-percent constitutional cap on property tax assessments for homeowners. The proposal was unveiled today in a conference committee on HB 1001 which would cap property taxes.

The measure is in line with comments by Speaker Bauer earlier this week who said lawmakers may be trying to tackle too much this session in their efforts to reform property taxes. And he wanted to focus on relief for homeowners.

Statehouse Republicans held a news conference Thursday announcing sweeping property tax reforms. However a spokesman for House Democrats said they unveiled their plan in the committee because they felt it was the more appropriate forum.

Although the controversy involving the Marion County Election Board over bad voter registration cards has subsided, there is a much bigger picture here I think needs to be addressed. 

Based on the e-mails I’ve received and talking to a lot of mail carriers, there were a lot of cards that went out to bad addresses.  One estimate put it out at 2,000 bad addresses in any given zip code alone.

That tells me that come 2009, when there is no election on tap, the voter rolls in Marion County should be purged and all voters told to re-register.  At the very least this would give us clean a voter registration list,  make the Clerk’s job easier and maybe actually give the County a little more informed electorate because the people who care enough to re-register are probably more likely to know what the heck is going on in this town.

With less than a week to go before the March 11 special election, an emergency meeting of the Marion County Election Board has been called this afternoon.  Although the agenda simply says it involves an investigation regarding voter registration, my sources tell me that nearly 1,000 voter registration cards have been mailed with the wrong precinct information on them.  I’ll know more this afternoon and let you know.  Did I tell you the election is next week?

With nine days left before Indiana lawmakers are required to adjourn, Statehouse Republicans are making Democrats and offer they hope they won’t refuse.

The Republican property tax reform plan calls for an average 30-percent reduction for homeowners.  In addition it phases in tax caps over the next two years, while putting them in the State Constitution.  The plan also picks up several local government levies, including the pre-1977 police and fire pensions and school operation costs.  It also provides low-income Hoosiers with an increase in the earned income tax credit as well as relief for renters.

Senate Pro Temp David Long says the Republicans made it a point to address Democrats concerns regarding schools and low-income citizens.   Republicans also said that permanent tax caps are necessary to any property tax reform and must be part of the deal.  House Speaker Pat Bauer Tuesday said he was not in favor of putting caps in the Constitution.

Matt Greller of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns says the plan still leaves cities coming up short on how to find money for necessary services.  And he says the money from any local option income taxes as well the phase in of the tax caps, just push the cities and towns problems down the road.

Although the latest polls show him behind, Republican State Representative Jon Elrod may have an early lead over Democrat City-Councilor Andre Carson in the race for the 7th Congressional District.

According to the Marion County Clerk’s Office, more than 6,400 voters have either requested absentee ballots or have come into the office and voted early.

And in the race for absentee voters Republicans have either turned in or requested 100-200 more absentee ballots than Democrats, according to local GOP officials.

I am also hearing that Elrod is also getting votes from soft Democrats and hard Democrats who don’t want Carson to win the March 11 special election because it would make him tougher to beat in the May primary.

And while a Republican or Democratic requests for an absentee ballot don’t guarantee a Republican or Democrat vote, it does show that this race may be a lot closer and a lot more interesting than anyone originally thought.

I think the wild card in this race will be how many Democrats either stay home or vote for Elrod because they are supporting one of Carson’s primary opponents or have a grudge against the “Carson machine.” I equate it to a Colts fan rooting for their two favorite teams, the Colts and whoever is playing against the New England Patriots.

Just for the record, there are less than 1,800 absentee votes cast in the May 2007 primary, more than 13,000 in the 2006 general election and more than 27,000 absentee ballots cast in the 2004 general election.

I spent a good chunk of time last night with Indiana lawmakers at an end of session gathering downtown.  I asked a number of them, both Republicans and Democrats, about  what they thought about getting out on time on providing Hoosiers with permanent property tax relief.

Everyone seemed confident lawmakers would get out on time, but a number of them also said they would not be surprised if  they didn’t have to spend the next 3-5 years fixing whatever plan comes out of the Statehouse in two weeks.

I also asked House Speaker Pat Bauer about staying late and the threat of a special session hanging over his head like a sword of Damocles.  Bauer told me the state is trying to take on too much and should just focus on residential homeowners and he won’t work with “a gun to his head,” referring to a promise by Governor Mitch Daniels to call a special session if lawmakers don’t finish by March 14.  Bauer says he’s been through special sessions before and is willing to stay until August to get the job done.

After a nice trip through the looking glass this morning it’s back to reality and things that matter for taxpayers.  Indiana lawmakers continue their behind the scenes negotiations on property tax reform.  One item I hear that may be surfacing is that schools are trying to exempt themselves from any property tax caps.  Yes, the same people who are anywhere from 37 to 72-percent of your tax bill, don’t want any limits on their spending.  Stay vigilant folks.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard  says his administration has found a few million dollars in government waste and inefficiencies since taking office.  He plans to release full details as his administration completes its review.  Ballard says the millions are in contracts and bad management.  The Mayor has also ordered five-percent budget cuts in preparation for property tax caps.  He also says if the State were to pick up the pre-1977 police pension levy, the taxpayers would save $26 million this year.