Dear Editor,

Because I established my law practice in Warsaw years before David Kolbe came to town I have been able to observe Kolbe since he arrived. Please do not vote for Kolbe.

Please remember the endgame. Laws are not passed on Election Day. It is during a representative’s two-year term that laws that affect all of us are considered.

Very simply, if you vote for Kolbe you are enabling Kolbe to cast his Democrat votes on all important legislation being considered by the General Assembly for the next two years along with the other Democrats. Fortunately, you can vote for Republican Curt Nisly with full confidence that over the next two years, Nisly will be voting Republican along with the other Republicans in the Indiana House of Representatives.

And why would any Republican ever vote for Kolbe – the one who has been a turncoat from the Republican Party and is ideologically opposed to virtually everything that we Republicans love, cherish and stand for? Republicans, please do not help the Democrats in the Indiana General Assembly.

Furthermore, do you remember back in the 1990s when Kolbe was a younger, earnest-sounding lawyer who sought and won the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s job as a Republican? Do you remember the division and turmoil he caused in our community during those years? Remember the infamous Bicycle Bandit case involving a clever bicycle-mounted thief?

Prosecutor Kolbe began railing at the dedicated law enforcement officers of our community.

According to the Warsaw Times-Union, Mr. Kolbe said he was considering a special prosecutor to investigate local police. “Kolbe said there was no implication of wrongdoing, but did not explain why he wants a special prosecutor if nothing was done illegally,”

Kolbe also pressed for a gag order on local law enforcement. The Times-Union says, “Kolbe asked county law enforcement officers not to talk directly to the press about criminal matters,” despite the fact that police case reports are public record.

The next year, when Kolbe did seek a special prosecutor against local law enforcement officials over the Bicycle Bandit case, the Times-Union called the incident, “another example of a growing rift between Kolbe and Warsaw police.”

Do you recall how, as a sitting Republican Prosecutor, David Kolbe endorsed a Democrat for judge in a local election? He caused great division in the Republican Party and he is dividing the local Republican Party again today. Kolbe has gotten some people to put out a sign that says, “Republicans for David Kolbe.”

Listen, it will never be Kolbe for the Republicans. Not on election day and not when he is voting Democrat down in Indianapolis. Do not be tricked or fooled. Remember Kolbe’s talk at that time about starting a new party? Doesn’t that sound like his calls for a third way in this current election?

Again, we see more division from Kolbe, now running as a Democrat for House District 22. Why would we allow a turncoat to divide us and strip this area of its Republican voice and vote down in the Indiana House of Representatives?

When Kolbe came up for re-election as prosecutor in the late 1990s, local Republicans denied him the nomination in grand fashion. Kolbe gained only 18 percent of the GOP primary vote to be nominated for a second term, a record low for an incumbent.

Republicans back then saw right through Kolbe’s efforts to divide us while he was prosecutor. We need to be discerning this year as well. Please do not fall for Kolbe’s tricks.

I encourage Republicans to back the conservative Republican candidate for House District 22 – Curt Nisly.

Choose wisely. Vote Nisly.

Attorney Paul D. Refior
Warsaw