SOUDER FACES TOUGH RACE

Helmke Could Be Biggest Rival Incumbent Has Had.

Eight years ago, Mark Souder played the giant killer when he upset
Democratic incumbent Jill Long for the congressional seat representing
northeast Indiana.

Now the four-term Republican may feel like he's wearing the bull's-eye as
he comes up against what could be his toughest opponent since - former Fort
Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke.

Souder, 51, and Helmke, 53, head up a roster of three seeking the
Republican nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives seat in the new
3rd District.

As required every 10 years, the Indiana General Assembly redrew district
boundaries earlier this year, adding Kosciusko and part of Elkhart County
to the 3rd and switching Adams, Whitley, Huntington and part of Jay to
other districts.

Joining the two veteran politicians is political newcomer Bill Larsen. All
three are from Allen County.

During his career in the House, Souder has developed a reputation as a
maverick who doesn't always toe the party line. He has angered Republican
leadership on more than one occasion by standing his ground, and he has
identified closely with a small group of conservative Republicans who came
to their jobs determined to change what they saw as the antiquated ways of
the House.

He has carved out a niche for himself in the nation's war on drugs, but has
come under fire from groups for sponsoring legislation that denies
financial aid for higher education to anyone convicted of drug offenses. He
said a contest between him and Helmke will highlight their differences,
including their stands on taxes and gun control.

Helmke, mayor from 1988 to 1999, said his decision to enter the race wasn't
"an anti-Souder thing," but agreed the race will give Republican voters a
clear choice. Helmke said he wants to take "traditional, conservative
Republican successes" such as lower taxes, fiscal integrity and safer
communities to Congress, but Souder said a Helmke victory could dilute the
strength of the conservative caucus.

Souder spent years as a congressional aide before his election, and his
roots in politics go back to his high school days when he was active in
Young Americans for Freedom and worked on Republican Barry Goldwater's
presidential campaign. Helmke, too, became involved in politics when he was
in high school, and he made an unsuccessful run for the 4th District House
seat in 1980. In 1998, he was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate
seat vacated by Republican Dan Coats, but he lost to Democrat Sen. Evan Bayh.

Larsen, 45, is a mechanical engineer at Tokheim Corp. and a Navy veteran.
He said his campaign will center on his belief the Social Security system
should be scrapped, except for disabled Americans who draw benefits from it.

In its place, Larsen said the 5.3 percent of an employee's wages an
employer pays in Social Security taxes should go into a self-directed
pension fund, and the 5.3 percent the employee pays should be used as the
worker sees fit. Failure to make such changes, he said, eventually will
bankrupt the system.