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http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060613/NEWS02/606130438/1006/NEWS01

First lady to return to Indiana for fundraiser
Visit may help boost Mike Sodrel in what may be one of nation's closest House races

By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- First lady Laura Bush is the latest Republican coming to Indiana to help endangered U.S. Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-New Albany. Bush is scheduled to host a June 30 fundraiser for Sodrel in Starlight, about 15 miles northwest of Louisville, Ky., according to an e-mail invitation.

"Mike Sodrel has a tough race," U.S. Rep. Tom Reynolds, the New York Republican who heads the campaign arm of House Republicans, said Friday at a briefing on the congressional elections. "He knows he has a tough race. We know he has a tough race."

Sodrel is the first Republican to represent southeastern Indiana in more than four decades. He also was the only U.S. House member to win in 2004 with less than 50 percent of the vote. Baron Hill, the Democratic incumbent Sodrel beat, is back for a rematch.

Political handicappers think it could be one of the closest races in the country. It's one of three congressional seats in Indiana that Democrats hope will help give them the 15 additional seats they need to take control of the House.


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