Several worker-friendly candidates already recruited to run against incumbents

Portage, Indiana- This morning, David Fagan announced the formation of the “Lunchpail Republicans”, a movment that hopes to appeal to ordinary working Republicans disenfranchised by the abandonment of traditional Republican ideals by Indiana’s current legislative leaders. David A. Fagan, a Republican labor leader, has been appointed to several leadership positions by Governor Mitch Daniels, but is fed up with the way the Republican Party has strayed from its foundation in Indiana.

“As a lifelong Republican, one of the values I hold most dear is support of limited government. Indiana, however, has a Governor and both legislative leaders focused on a ‘right to work’ bill that interferes with private entities’ ability to conduct business,” Fagan said. “Workers and small business owners are no longer being treated as constituents, and our leaders are selling us out to appease the Chamber of Commerce. This is no longer my father’s party, and I am not alone.”

“A Lunchpail Republican believes in the rights to speak freely and bear arms, supports labor and business, and insists that the government should not interfere with the day-to-day operations of private sector organizations,” Fagan said. “We should not have to choose between our party, our union, or our guns.”

The party has already identified several candidates to run against targeted incumbent Republicans who are more concerned with “filling campaign war chests than serving the hard-working Hoosiers who elected them,” Fagan said. “The Lunchpail Republicans exist to identify and support candidates who want to make life better for Indiana’s families, and not those who would serve as puppets to national special interests pushing intrusive legislation like ‘right to work’.”

“Abraham Lincoln, our party’s first President, said ‘All that serves labor serves the nation. All that harms is treason. If a man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool. There is no America without labor, and to fleece the one is to rob the other.’ Our leaders must also have forgotten that Ronald Reagan was the president of his union, the Screen Actors Guild, for seven terms. Lincoln and Reagan would be ashamed of what these guys are doing.”

David Fagan is Chairman of the Lunchpail Republicans, Financial Secretary of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150, and president of the 14,000-member IUOE Indiana State Branch. Fagan was appointed by Governor Daniels to the Indiana Port Commission in 2007. He has also been appointed to the Law Enforcement Training Board by Governors Daniels, Kernan, O’Bannon, and Bayh. He was twice elected to the Portage City Council and spent many years as a Republican Precinct Commiteeman.