House Committee to Decide Winner of Indiana Seat

Two men showed up in the House chamber Thursday to be sworn in as the newly elected representative from Indiana’s 8th District. Neither got the job, but both will probably be paid to do it.

The House, convening for the first time since the November elections, voted 238 to 177 to hold the Indiana seat open while its Administration Committee tries to sort out the seesaw results of the district’s contest, one of the closest in recent history.

That left both Democratic incumbent Frank McCloskey and his Republican opponent, Richard D. McIntyre, without a vote in the 99th Congress. But, if they follow a precedent set in a previous challenge, House members probably will vote later to pay both men a salary while the committee decides whom to seat.

The outcome of the election, McIntyre warned, may not be decided for as long as nine months. In the meantime, the House clerk will administer the nonpartisan business of the district’s congressional office, such as responding to constituents’ mail.

Republicans had vigorously protested a Democratic-sponsored request that McIntyre, 27, who has been declared the official winner by Indiana’s Republican secretary of state, step aside as other House members took their oaths.

‘Raw Political Power’

Rep. Bill Frenzel of Minnesota, ranking Republican on the Administration Committee, called the party-line vote to send the issue to committee “a perversion of representative government (and) . . . clearly an exercise in raw political power.”

And McIntyre complained that, as a result, “the election certifications of any and all House members can be invalidated on the strength of mere innuendo and political rhetoric.”

But Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.) contended that allowing McIntyre to take the congressional oath of office now would be “like declaring the winner of a football game at half time on the basis of the score at the end of the first quarter.”

Under the Constitution, the House itself--and not state officials--decides who will be seated among its members.

Precinct Counted Twice

McCloskey, 54, had declared himself winner of the hard-fought contest in November after he emerged with a lead of 72 votes out of 233,000 cast. But when the returns of one of the district’s 15 counties were checked, it was discovered that one precinct had been counted twice. Suddenly, McIntyre appeared to have a 34-vote lead.

Indiana Secretary of State Edward J. Simcox--like McIntyre, a Republican--quickly declared McIntyre the winner and sent official certification of the election to Republican Gov. Robert D. Orr just before midnight Dec. 13.

Democrats cried foul, and with several rounds of recounting under way, the final vote total is uncertain. Each party contends that its candidate is ahead.

House Democrats, relying on a 20-year-old precedent set in another contested Indiana race, voted to send the matter to the Administration Committee.

Republicans attempted to retaliate by objecting to the seating of freshman Democrat Richard H. Stallings, who defeated Republican Rep. George Hansen by just 170 votes in Idaho’s 2nd District. But that move was blocked by Democrats.

In addition, a member of the Senate did not take his oath of office Thursday. West Virginia law prevented Democrat Jay Rockefeller from assuming his Senate seat until his term as governor expires later this month.