Rep. Mike Pence (R) Elected 2000, 3d term
Born:	June, 7, 1959, Columbus
Home:	Elwood
Education:	Hanover Col., B.A. 1981, IN U., J.D. 1986
Religion:	Protestant
Marital Status:	married (Karen)
Professional Career:	Practicing atty., 1986-91; Pres., IN Policy Review Fndt., 1991-93; Radio broadcaster, Network Indiana, 1992-99; Host, Pub. Affairs TV, UPN-23, 1995-99.
DC Office	426 CHOB20515, 202-225-3021; Fax: 202-225-3382; Web site: mikepence.house.gov
State Offices	Anderson, 765-640-2919.
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Muncie, Indiana, became famous as the "Middletown" that sociologists Robert and Helen Lynd lived in and reported on in 1924-25 and again in 1935, and where a team of sociologists investigated again in 1976-78. The Lynds were attracted to Muncie by its typicalness--"every small city from Maine to California," said Life magazine. But it wasn't exactly: It was a factory town in a country still almost half rural, it was almost entirely Protestant and Northern in a country one-quarter Catholic and one-third Southern. Muncie was more typical in being culturally homogeneous but economically riven. In the 1920s Muncie celebrated its common values and was loath to admit its economic disparities; in the 1930s the latter came out into the open when Muncie, like much of the industrial Midwest, was unionized in what were sometimes violent uprisings. Workers who were joining CIO unions and voting for Democrats fiercely opposed the business elite--local bankers, merchants, executives at General Motors and the Ball family's glass company. Partisan politics took on the sharp, bitter tone of a struggle for wealth between two rival classes whose claims seemed irreconcilable. Echoes of this class-warfare politics reverberate only faintly today. They grow louder with local economic distress, as Muncie suffered years ago in layoffs at GM and when the Ball headquarters moved to Colorado in 1998. And there are higher Democratic percentages in towns with union traditions, like Muncie and Anderson, than in others such as Richmond. But Indiana's more recent prosperity, based on high-skill manufacturing, has brought something like a political consensus here for tax cuts, trimmed budgets and quiet support of traditional values, with strong support for candidates of either party who agree. Basketball is the civic religion here. Indiana has nine of the nation's 10 largest high school gyms; The Fieldhouse, in New Castle near the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, is number one. Also at hand is Tom Raper Inc. in Richmond, the nation's largest RV dealer.

The 6th Congressional District of Indiana covers most of the east-central part of the state. It includes Muncie and Anderson, with their big GM factories, in the north; and Richmond, founded by a major branch of American Quakers and the home of their Earlham College. In the north and south are suburban fringes of Fort Wayne and Cincinnati. Redistricting in 2001 added some rural counties to the north and south, and removed parts of Shelby and Johnson Counties outside Indianapolis. The district is solidly Republican in presidential politics and but has been a swing district in some state races.

The congressman from the 6th District is Mike Pence, a Republican first elected in 2000. He grew up in Columbus and graduated from Hanover College and Indiana University Law School, then practiced law; he is an evangelical Christian. Starting before he was 30, he ran as the Republican nominee for this seat in 1988 and 1990 against longtime Democratic Congressman (1975-95) Philip Sharp, then wrote an article after the second contest called "Confessions of a Negative Campaigner," in which he apologized for running negative advertisements. He was president of the conservative Indiana Policy Review Foundation, a think tank based in Fort Wayne, and began broadcasting "The Mike Pence Show," a conservative talk radio program that was syndicated statewide starting in 1994 and lasting until he launched his 2000 campaign.

The seat opened up when Republican Congressman David McIntosh challenged Governor Frank O'Bannon. In the six-candidate Republican primary, Pence beat state Representative Jeff Linder, 44%-24%. Robert Rock, Anderson lawyer and son of former Lieutenant Governor Robert Rock, had a closer contest in the Democratic primary, 30%-23%. The general became complicated when Bill Frazier, a former Republican state senator and four-time loser against Sharp, entered the race as an independent after the primary. All three candidates opposed abortion rights and gun control, and supported increased military spending; Frazier tried to tap into populist sentiment. Rock, a former Marine, attacked Pence for not serving in the military (Pence was 13 when the draft was abolished and U.S. troops left Vietnam) and supported tax cuts for middle-income families. Pence called for across-the-board tax cuts, and reform of Medicare financing. Pence won 51% to 39% for Rock and 9% for Frazier.

Pence quickly made his mark as one of the House's more conservative members. He antagonized the business community by abandoning the bankruptcy bill because he objected to a provision on abortion. As the only House member to become a plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, Pence said that Senator John McCain was "so deep in bed with the Democrats that his feet are coming out of the bottom of the sheets." He was one of 33 House Republicans to vote against final action on George W. Bush's education bill, and one of 25 to oppose the Medicare/prescription drug bill as too costly and he claimed vindication when budget estimates subsequently showed that costs had soared. "Out here in heartland America, there's not a lot of enthusiasm for the politics of entitlements," he said. He did vote for the big-spending farm bill in 2002, conceding, "I don't have clean hands." Pence sponsored the House-passed resolution in July 2004 that deplored the United Nations for "misuse of the International Court of Justice" in a ruling on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He was the first House member to install a radio studio in his office.

In the 109th Congress, Pence took over as chairman of the Republican Study Committee, and promoted greater attention to the party's conservative message. "We win as conservatives when we communicate," Pence said. "If you can't communicate, you can't govern." He placed a strong emphasis on the need to control federal spending, advocating changes in how Congress handles the budget. Pence's group worked with Majority Whip Roy Blunt and Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle to impose procedural roadblocks on appropriations bills that exceed annual spending limits. Although some House insiders dismissed the outcome as a "fig leaf," Pence contended that the change would increase budget discipline. He opposed any Social Security reforms that would raise taxes. Showing that he could reach beyond the usual conservative themes, he joined Democrat Albert Wynn in filing a bill to repeal the 2002 campaign reform law, which he said was a violation of First Amendment rights. Although that proposal probably is a lost cause for now, Pence showed that he wanted to be taken seriously in shaping the policy debate. When he took the chairmanship, Pence stepped down as a deputy whip but his RSC activism could lead to a future bid for a Republican leadership post. Pence was reelected by wide margins in 2002 and 2004.

Committees

• Agriculture (12th of 25 R): General Farm Commodities & Risk Management; Livestock & Horticulture.
• International Relations (18th of 27 R): Middle East & Central Asia; Oversight & Investigations.
• Judiciary (18th of 23 R): Courts, the Internet & Intellectual Property; Crime, Terrorism & Homeland Security.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	0	0	0	0	89	78	100	100	100	100	--
2003	10	--	13	10	--	76	96	96	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	36%	--	64%		0%	--	95%
Social	5%	--	87%		0%	--	91%
Foreign	11%	--	80%		4%	--	93%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR Y 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. N 5. DC School Vouchers Y 6. Ban Human Cloning Y		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds N 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Mike Pence (R)	182,529	67%	$1,010,228
	Melina Fox (D)	85,123	31%	$50,071
	Other	4,397	2%
2004 primary	Mike Pence (R)	unopposed
2002 general	Mike Pence (R)	118,436	64%	$1,214,879
	Melina Fox (D)	63,871	34%	$342,987
	Other	3,346	2%
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (51%)

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 177,214 (64%) Kerry (D) 97,781 (35%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 148,415 (58%) Gore (D) 100,231 (40%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Sixth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R +11
• District Size: 5,572 square miles
• Population in 2000: 675,669; 59.3% urban; 40.7% rural
• Median Household Income: $39,002; 9.7% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 35.0% blue collar; 49.7% white collar; 15.3% gray collar; 13.6% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 93.4% White, 3.8% Black, 0.5% Asian, 0.2% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 0.8% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 1.3% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 16.8% German, 12.7% USA, 7.7% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.