One candidate in Evansville mayor race is bleeding votes from another, attorney says

EVANSVILLE — There's one reason, and one reason only, Republicans are publicly questioning Libertarian mayoral candidate Michael Daugherty's residency in Evansville two weeks before the Nov. 7 election, said a prominent lawyer advising Daugherty.

The GOP knows Daugherty is draining votes and momentum from Republican nominee Natalie Rascher, said David Jones.

Jones has advised the Vanderburgh County Commissioners under Democratic and Republican majorities. He worked for Democratic Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel's administration and supported Republican Cheryl Musgrave for mayor this year.

More: Local Republican leadership, Michael Daugherty campaign at odds over Libertarian's address

Much of the city's business and political establishment are following current GOP Mayor Lloyd Winnecke's lead to support Rascher — but Jones said voters who might otherwise support a Republican are responding to Daugherty's outspoken criticisms of CenterPoint, his vow not to take campaign money from corporations, political action committees or lobbyists and his emphasis on crime.

Conservative voters, the Courier & Press asked? Well, Jones replied, Daugherty is "a pure capitalist and a fiscal conservative" and a former Republican. Daugherty ran unsuccessfully for Tippecanoe County surveyor as a Republican in 2016.

Libertarian candidates typically don't get more than about 5% of votes. In the 2019 mayoral race, Libertarian Bart Gadau polled almost 5% of ballots cast.

But Daugherty has made enough of a splash that Carol McClintock, Winnecke's wife and a leading supporter of Rascher, issued a warning about him at a recent Rascher campaign event.

More: We asked the candidates: What is a mayor's role in dealing with rising CenterPoint rates?

Jones said three people who attended a fundraising luncheon for Rascher last week at Evansville Country Club told him McClintock "actually stood up and started yelling that, ‘We have to do more because we’re losing to that guy Daugherty.'"

It didn't happen like that, McClintock said — but she admitted she did speak about Daugherty's impact during the luncheon.

"They were not written remarks, I can't refer back to them," McClintock said. "But certainly I wanted our supporters to be aware that, that candidate is making a bigger impact than we thought that he would. Well, now the people are now aware that he does not live in the city, and he lives in Daylight, Indiana."

Daugherty's campaign has denied that charge.

Jones said one of the GOP's City Council candidates acknowledged to him during a private conversation that Daugherty is hemorrhaging votes from Rascher.

"They said, ‘Look, I like the guy, but I’m 100% against him because he has zero chance of winning, but he’s draining votes away from Natalie,'" Jones said. "And I know that. I absolutely know that.”

Rascher has paid for polling

Among hundreds of thousands of dollars Rascher's campaign has paid to Washington, D.C. and Indianapolis political advertising and consulting firms was $20,000 paid in August to Public Opinion Strategies, which says it uses "premiere polling techniques to help our candidates gain a clear understanding of the political atmosphere that shaped winning political platforms."

Rascher's pre-election campaign finance report covers bills paid through Oct. 13.

More: Political strategists, ad buys: Here's how Republican Natalie Rascher spent her money

"If Natalie (Rascher) was ahead, they would be leaking the poll," Jones said. "They would be leaking poll results basically saying, ‘She’s so far ahead,’ so that the other candidates’ people get discouraged, they drop the harness. Contributors don’t contribute to people they think are losing."

Local GOP Chairman Mike Duckworth, who raised residency questions about Daugherty in lieu of Rascher doing it, disagreed with that. Duckworth is a member of Rascher's campaign committee.

"We’re not going to share that (poll) because it might give people false hope, which might cause them not to go to the voting booth. It might cause them to be overconfident," Duckworth said.

'Getting sweaty about it'

Fueled by Winnecke's all-out support, Rascher's campaign has gotten a boost from multiple political action committees. The largest PAC contribution was $23,000 from Evansville Future PAC. Commonwealth Engineers PAC donated $15,000 during a six-month period, as did DPBG, the PAC for American Structurepoint. First Group Engineering, Inc., through its For Better Infrastructure Political Action Committee, came in third at $10,150.

More: Daugherty pays for most of his Evansville mayor campaign himself

Jones pointed out that Duckworth, the GOP's chairman, is a business development manager for Commonwealth Engineers.

"They make millions of dollars off of the city on all these water and sewer contracts," Jones said. "(Duckworth is) at every works board meeting, every utility board meeting. So if anybody is getting sweaty about losing this election, he’s definitely one of the people that’s getting sweaty about it."

Duckworth acknowledged that Commonwealth Engineers wouldn't want to lose business with the city.

"But you have to understand: There’s 21 or 22 engineering consultant firms in Evansville," he said. "So we don’t get all the work. We don’t expect to get all the work. There’s quite a few more that give more and less money than we do."

Calling Jones a Democratic attorney, Duckworth questioned why his advice to Daugherty isn't listed on Daugherty's campaign finance report as an in-kind contribution. Jones, who said he wasn't paid, said responding to the GOP's residency claims was his first legal work for Daugherty's campaign.

Jones said he warned Daugherty at the outset of the campaign that he was up against entrenched, monied forces who wouldn't give up access to the mayor's office without a fight. The attorney pointed to the $952,113 that Rascher reported raising through Oct. 13.

"That’s a lot of money at stake if (Rascher) loses," Jones said. "You don’t think that all those engineering firms and all those PACs gave that kind of money because they don’t depend on the business they do with the city? And (Daugherty) has already said he won’t take money from lobbyists, political action committees.

"Even if Michael doesn’t win — and I think he’s got a serious shot — I think he’s changed this thing."

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Attorney says Michael Daugherty taking votes from Natalie Rascher