By Nate Smith
Washington Times-Herald
WASHINGTON —
After almost two weeks of speculation, former State Rep. Dave Crooks made it official and announced he will run for Congress.
Crooks, 47, has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and will seek the Democrat nomination for Indiana’s 8th District in 2012. The seat is currently held by Larry Bucshon, R-Newburgh.
The DLC Media owner and president said he “will run a campaign focused on the needs of Indiana’s middle class and ending the destructive partisan atmosphere in Washington, D.C.”
“The Washington I live in is very different from the one 700 miles east of here. Republicans and Democrats can’t get along and the voice of the heartland is frequently drowned out by partisan agendas,” Crooks said. “I’m running to make sure southern and western Indiana has a representative who stands up for good-paying jobs, affordable health insurance and quality education, not cutting Medicare and shutting down the government on a whim.”
Crooks, also known as “The Voice of the Hatchets,” spent 12 years in the state legislature, where he worked to open up coverage of the General Assembly on the web and increased penalties for those who steal valuable metals and gas from small business owners.
He also, according to a release, worked to consolidate Public Safety Access Points which increased response time for 911 calls while saving tax dollars.
In 2005, Crooks testified in St. Louis during the Base Realignment and Closure process (BRAC) in support of NSWC Crane. He also helped create, at the state level, the WestGate @ Crane Technology Park.
Because of the equal time rule, Crooks said he will end his weekly political talk show, “The Dave Crooks Show.”
Instead, he plans to spend the weekends this year traveling the district and listening to constituents.
“I’m in, and I’m excited to formally launch this campaign,” Crooks said. “I can’t wait to hit the road.”
Since telling the Times-Herald in an exclusive that he was thinking about running, Crooks said the support has been immense.
“I spoke to key Democrat leaders from around the district last Saturday in Sullivan and received very positive feedback,” Crooks said.
In the time since the announcement, Crooks launched a fan page on Facebook. Since then, 400 members signed up in 10 days.
“The Facebook support page impressed me,” Crooks said.
Bucshon has even met Crooks at a Knox County Chamber banquet last week. The freshman congressman even mentioned Crooks at the Daviess County Republican Lincoln-Reagan dinner the next day.
The 8th District has changed since Bucshon won in 2010, as traditionally-Republican counties of Warren, Fountain and Putnam have moved out of the eighth and in its place are old Democrat-leaning counties of Spencer, Perry, Dubois and part of Crawford.
Another man has emerged for the Democrat nomination, Terry White of Newburgh. White is an Evansville-based attorney and the chairman of the Warrick County Democrat Party.
Crooks is originally from Graysville in Sullivan County. He and his wife Shelley have three children.
Next week, Crooks said he will be in Washington, D.C., to meet with key legislators, listen to briefings on key federal issues, begin fundraising and interview media consultants.
An official campaign kickoff will be in the coming weeks. Crooks is also on Twitter at davecrooks1.
