Michael Griffin, Dominguez, and Morrow are the Only Serious Candidates

Election Day is five days away, and Northwest Indiana -- especially Lake County -- is facing some consequential decisions.

Its residents are presented with a Democratic Party that is in control, but appears as little more than a criminal enterprise.

To date, there have been 30 convictions and there are nine indictments awaiting trial. All are Democrats. If the complete truth were known, there probably are very few people in the Lake County Democratic Party who have not committed crimes. The problem in any such investigation is time and all the corroborating evidence required at trial. For Lake County Democratic politicians the reality is that if you have not been indicted it does not mean you are innocent; it only means that you are lucky. The difficulty is finding individuals in Lake County Democratic Party politics that do not have something to hide. T

he goal of all ethical voters in Lake County should be to vote no to this criminal enterprise.

To all universal truths, there are exceptions and no less in this case. Consequently, there are two Lake County Democrats who I am encouraging all citizens to support.

The first is Highland Clerk-Treasurer Michael Griffin, who is running for state treasurer. There are not enough superlatives I can write about Griffin. As a public servant, he is a "treasure" for Indiana, and my only regret is that he will be a loss to NWI.

The second Democrat I believe should be retained is Sheriff Roy Dominguez. He has done the most apolitical job as county sheriff in carrying out the duties that cross all political jurisdictions. His opponent has lost any credibility of having discretion in decision-making. This occurred when he went after a woman employee for "ghost-payrolling" for working on the American Heart Association fund-raiser. This lack of discretionary decision-making should disqualify him from even wearing a badge.

The voters of the First Senate District have a chance to turn NWI around and to show that they really have a concept about competence. This is the race between incumbent Sen. Frank Mrvan and Chris Morrow. Mrvan has shown through his years of service that he cannot achieve anything for NWI.

In the debate, seen by many, Mrvan said everything is fine, with only a little "tweaking" needed. I hope he tells that to all the people who faced losing their homes in the Lake County tax sale this week.

Mrvan inappropriately said he got the president of Purdue University to take sides and brief him for the debate, but even that he could not get right.

He has no clue what his legislative votes mean.  For example, Mrvan took credit for the dormitories at Purdue University Calumet. In reality, he did nothing to get them. In addition, those, by law, have to be from private funds. The same is true for the parking garage. The rebuilding of the science building comes from internal funds, not from Indiana tax dollars.

Mrvan argued that PUC and Indiana University Northwest get less funding than Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis because they do not have law or medical schools. Wrong again. On the other hand, maybe it is just another lie with which he thinks he can get away. Mrvan did know that PUC and IUN receive about $3,500 for each new Hoosier student, while West Lafayette and Bloomington are already getting more than $14,500 for each Hoosier student.

When will Mrvan be voted out of office to show that NWI citizens can respond and think?   

Voting for Morrow is the litmus test of NWI citizens. Do they care enough about competency and Democratic Party corruption to vote outside their comfort zone? Or will they react in their usual knee-jerk fashion and vote for any’