A challenger to Representative Mark Souder in Indiana’s republican primary has thrown his hat into the ring, but there’s a question about whether he can legally do it.

Scott Wise is a former republican Whitley County Councilman who says government has gotten too big, and he wants to go to Washington to make a change. The employee at Columbia City’s Warner Electric Company says he likes Mark Souder. He says he’s even voted for him. But he says times have changed.

“I just think he's been there a long time and he's had a chance to do some things and we still have a large government,” Wise says, “and it's getting larger everyday and we need some new blood in there to make things different.”

But there’s a question of whether Wise will be allowed to run as a republican in the May primary. Wise tried to run against Souder two years ago as a libertarian but was barred from appearing on the ballot by the Secretary of State. Officials say that might disqualify him from running this year as a republican. That decision appears to rest with Whitley County Republican Party chairman Jim Banks.

“The rule states he has to be in good stead with the Republican Party to be on the ballot,” Banks says. The question is what does ‘in good stead’ mean? “We have to study it more to figure that out,” he says. “We'll study the law a little bit further and try to figure that out.”

Banks says he doesn’t want to keep Scott Wise off the ballot. He says he’s spoken with Mark Souder about it and Souder doesn’t want him barred either. But he says he has more research to do before he can make a decision.