Chocola concedes defeat
By ERIN PIROUTEK
Senior Staff Writer
Remington Anksorus spent the last several months campaigning to elect Chris Chocola to an office he hopes to one day hold himself.
"I want to be a politician when I grow up," said Anksorus, noting he hopes to be Indiana Representative from District 3 someday. And the Penn High School senior isn't even old enough to vote.
But for now, Democratic incumbent Tim Roemer will return for a sixth term in Congress. And although Anksorus is disappointed in the election results, Chocola supporters can look forward to supporting Anksorus in future elections.
"I picked Chris because he basically stands for the same beliefs that I have," Anksorus said.
The race between Chocola and Roemer was too close to call for much of the night.
Even when local media declared Roemer the winner around midnight, Chocola staffers refused to accept defeat, counting on the final precincts to push their candidate into the lead.
Finally, at 1 a.m. Chocola conceded the race.
Nevertheless, he remained positive.
"There is no losing tonight. We've got a lot more friends than we had a year ago," the challenger said.
Many of his volunteers had no previous political experience, but supported Chocola because they believed in his message. Volunteers included the very young.
"A lot of people have had their kids involved with the campaign from the beginning," said Chocola volunteer Brenda O'Grady, a mother of five. She supported Chocola in part because of his support for school voucher programs. She felt that the campaign offered a good opportunity to teach her children about the political process, an experience that she didn't have when she was younger.
The future voters at the Chocola gathering learned first-hand how important a few votes can be as the race unfolded.
Although Roemer jumped into a large early lead from St. Joseph County returns, Chocola steadily gained throughout the night, as results from the traditionally Republican Elkhart County and Kosciusko County were reported.
The atmosphere grew more tense, as Chocola slowly and surely made the race a dead heat. Even into the early hours of the morning, support remained strong at the Republican camp at the Holiday Inn in South Bend. People crowded around big screen televisions, trying to glimpse the election results and local television shots of Roemer's sparsely-attended South Bend victory party.
Supporters consider the relatively unknown Chocola's effort a successful challenge to the popular incumbent.
"I think it opened a lot of people's eyes. I think [Roemer's] next election will be tough for him to win," said Chocola headquarters director Jason Mazurkiewicz.
Chocola did not discuss his future plans.
All News Stories for Wednesday, November 8, 2000
