January 19, 2007

New members of Indiana General Assembly include several Catholics

There are many new faces that will be voting on legislation in 2007 at the Indiana Statehouse, and the new group of legislators include several Catholics.

The new Catholics in the House of Representatives include:

• Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon

(D-Munster)

• Rep. David Niezgodski

(D-South Bend)

• Rep. Nancy Dembowski (D-Knox)

• Rep. Tom Dermody (R-LaPorte)

• Rep. Philip GiaQuinta (D-Fort Wayne)

The sole new Catholic in the Indiana Senate is Sen. Robert Deig

(D-Mount Vernon).

Out of the 150 members of the Indiana General Assembly, 33 of them are Roman Catholic.

Ten are state senators, including the Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Richard Young (D-Miltown).

Other Catholic senators include:

• Sen. Frank Mrvan (D-Hammond)

• Sen. Sue Landske (R-Cedar Lake)

• Sen. John Broden (D-South Bend)

• Sen. Joseph Zakas (R-Granger)

• Sen. Thomas Wyss (R-Fort Wayne)

• Sen. David Ford (R-Hartford City)

• Sen. Jeff Drozda (R-Westfield)

• Sen. Timothy Skinner

(D-Indianapolis)

Twenty-three are members of the Indiana House of Representatives, including Speaker of the House, Rep. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend).

Other Catholics in the House include:

• Rep. Ryan Dvorak (D-South Bend)

• Rep. Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City)

• Rep. Duane Cheney (D-Portage)

• Rep. Chester Dobis (D-Merrillville)

• Rep. Donald Lehe (R-Brookston)

• Rep. Robert Kuzman (R-Crown Point)

• Rep. Jeb Bardon (D-Indianapolis)

• Rep. Joe Micon (D-Lafayette)

• Rep. Sheila Klinker (D-Lafayette)

• Rep. Timothy Neese (R-Elkhart)

• Rep. Philip Pflum (D-Milton)

• Rep. Robert Bischoff (D-Greendale)

• Rep. Paul Robertson (D-DePauw)

• Rep. Suzanne Crouch

(R-Evansville)

• Rep. Matt Bell (R-Avilla)

• Rep. Michael Murphy

(R-Indianapolis)

• Rep. Phil Hinkle (R-Indianapolis)

• Rep. John Day (D-Indianapolis)

The Web site www.in.gov/apps/sos/legislator/search, can help you identify your legislator and provide some easy ways of making contact.

To track legislative action or to contact your state legislators, log on to www.in.gov/legislative or call the Indiana House of Representative at

317-232-9600 or 800-382-9842. For the Indiana State Senate, call 317-232-9400 or

800-382-9467. †

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