Tony Samuel joins!

Jerry Lopez (0:04)

You're listening to The Hammer and Nigel Show.

Jason Hammer (0:07)

If it's Thursday, if it's around this time, that means we like to do what the kids call pull a Hulk set around here and get the drinks flowing. I'm Jason Hammer, Big Nige is out, Indy Spanglish, Jerry Lopez is filling in. And at this time every week, our guy Tony Samuel comes in, talks a little local government stuff. And let's be honest, I really come in for the shot. But if we're going to have to talk local government, we're going to need some liquid encouragement here. So we got the bullet back out. Gentlemen, cheers. Here we go.

Tony Samuel (0:42)

Thank you.

Jerry Lopez (0:47)

This is what it feels like to be the mayor. This is awesome.

Tony Samuel (0:49)

That's smooth. Yeah.

Jason Hammer (0:50)

Well, to be the mayor, you're going to need about 13 more of those, allegedly.

Tony Samuel (0:55)

My wife's here, so I can have a few more and she can drive me.

Jason Hammer (0:59)

Oh, that's right. Designated driver. Let's get into midterms.

We got Greg Ballard suing the Indiana Election Commission just a couple of weeks before we get into going to the ballot box here. What do you think?

Tony Samuel (1:17)

Oh, another political stunt. He's good at it. That's what his campaign's been based on.

And here's the interesting thing, because there's not a lot of real issue stuff you can talk about for the secretary of state's race.

He does get media attention. So, you know, got to give him a little bit of credit, but it's all fake.

Jason Hammer (1:35)

I mean, these, you know, I read the what he's alleging and he's saying that the commission ignored his complaints and they have no intention on meeting anytime soon.

Tony Samuel (1:47)

Well, they probably ignored his complaints because they're bogus or, you know, at least not newsworthy, not rising to the level where they would need to take action. The funny thing is he's the only one of the four candidates that's actually been fined by the commission for violating his reporting of his campaign finances. And so, but he's done this kind of thing. You know, his campaign started with having to get signatures because he's an independent, actually calling themselves the New Lincoln Party. But they made a big deal about getting those signatures. They paid a firm $800,000 to get those signatures. It's not like he went around the state and there was a groundswell of support for him and people wanted him on the ballot. It's because they paid folks and they got people to, you know, around the donut counties in Indianapolis and standing out, had people that were paid standing out at grocery stores and signed this and people signed it. And so it wasn't like he's got support. And then he does another thing where they, you know, the people question what the Lincoln Party is all about. So they put out, you know, guiding principles, which really said nothing. But again, got a little bit of media attention. I remember the state convention in Fort Wayne in June, you know, when we were selecting Max Engeling as our candidate, he shows up and that gets a little pressed because he's there. And now he does this a few weeks before the election, but it's just a political stunt.

Jerry Lopez (3:10)

Tony, what would you say if I said that he has no interest whatsoever and no expectation whatsoever to win? He just wants to start a Lincoln Party and he wants to be a kingmaker. He wants to be the mover and shaker, the Trump of the Lincoln Party.

Tony Samuel (3:25)

Yeah, I think you're right on target there. And I've been saying from the start that it's not just Bo Baj that wants to be governor. I think Greg Ballard wants to be governor. I think this Lincoln Party is a movement for him to be governor. Why would he come out of retirement, you know, take the shot, lose a bunch of weight, wear a suit that's too big because his people didn't match his new weight with his clothes.

That's a shot.

Jerry Lopez (3:53)

That's a shot.

Tony Samuel (3:54)

And run for secretary of state.

Jerry Lopez (3:56)

I don't have that problem.

Tony Samuel (3:57)

And then his folks say, okay, here's how we can get some attention because nobody really cares if you're running or not. He's going to be a spoiler. I think he wants to run for governor. I think even if Bo Baj or Greg Ballard, I think they're going to lose. I think Max Engeling is going to win. They can still run for governor because now they've raised their name ID. And it's a shame for the Republican Party. So Republicans have to get out and vote and vote for Max Engeling.