KOSCIUSKO COUNTY, IN (Indiana's NewsCenter) --- A giant in Indiana politics will be targeted for defeat, if he runs for re-election in 2012.
That’s what Tea Party leaders say about Senator Richard Lugar, who they believe has forgotten his conservative roots.
Lugar is in his 35th year in the U.S. Senate, but that long history does not impress an organization forming this weekend called “Hoosiers for a Conservative Senate”.
The Tea Party organization thinks it's high time the older republican steps aside to make room for newer, more conservative blood.
Monica Boyer from Kosciusko County sat down with Lugar for what was described as a cordial meeting in December, but left saying he's got to go.
Boyer has problems with Lugar's recent vote in support of the new U.S.-Russian “START” treaty, which reduces the number of nuclear missiles in each nation's arsenal.
In addition, she and many colleagues objected to his sponsorship of the DREAM Act, and his votes to confirm Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
That issue is a big reason why they are willing to run their own candidate against Lugar in the 2012 primary.
Monica Boyer/Hoosiers for Conservative Senate: " We understand this is going to be a David and Goliath fight. We understand that fully. However, there are some major deep, deep concerns that conservatives have right now, as far as his voting record. He's progressively gotten more liberal."
Attempts to reach Lugar for comment on Martin Luther King Day were unsuccessful.
Boyer says Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock and State Senator Mike Delph are possible opponents for Lugar next May.
Boyer says her group will not oppose Lugar based on age.
If he’s re-elected, Lugar will be 86 years old at the completion of his next term in office.
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