House Vote on Disputed Seat Challenged

More than three months after the Nov. 6 election, voters in southwestern Indiana’s 8th Congressional District still do not know who their congressman is.

And, since the new Congress was sworn in on Jan. 3, the nation’s taxpayers have been paying both Democrat Frank McCloskey and Republican Richard McIntyre full $6,000-a-month congressional salaries.

McCloskey or McIntyre won the election by only a handful of the more than 230,000 votes cast. With both claiming victory, the Constitution leaves it to the House of Representatives itself to make the final decision.

Edge Given McCloskey

McCloskey has one important edge: The Democrats control the House. But so far, the House has made no decision. Last Thursday, by a party-line vote of 221 to 180, it voted not to seat either candidate until a task force of the House Administration Committee finishes its investigation.

McIntyre took matters into his own hands Monday, going to the U.S. District Court in Washington to sue the Democrats who voted to keep the seat vacant. McIntyre asked the court to permit him to take office until the three-man task force reports at the end of April.

McIntyre claims that he has won the election twice: on election night, when returns showed him leading by 34 votes, and after a recent recount, which widened his margin to 418 votes. He has a certificate of election from Indiana’s secretary of state, also a Republican.

But Democrats contend that McCloskey, who had served one term in the House before this year, led by 72 votes after the official canvass a week after the election and say that the recount is inconclusive because different counties within the district interpreted state election law differently.

The House vote challenged by McIntyre’s lawsuit reaffirmed a similar party-line vote on Jan. 3. McIntyre said he went to court to protect the constitutional rights of minority-party House members.

Jurisdiction an Issue

But Robert Bauer, counsel to the Democratic Congressional Committee, said the court has no jurisdiction because the Constitution says the houses of Congress are the only election judges in disputes involving their own members.

A federal judge in Indiana agreed, ruling last Thursday, the same day as the House vote, that neither the state nor federal courts have jurisdiction now that the question has been placed before the House.

While the Administration Committee task force tries to decide which man is a congressman, both are trying to act the role. McCloskey is keeping his three district offices open, and McIntyre is opening one in Evansville this week.