LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock says he'll challenge longtime U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar in the 2012 Republican primary.
Lugar last month announced plans to seek a seventh six-year term next year.
The Journal & Courier in Lafayette says Mourdock made the statement at a meeting of the Tippecanoe County Republican Women's Club.
He says he'll be touring the state Feb. 22 to make the announcement.
The 78-year-old Lugar is a former Indianapolis mayor who first won election to the Senate in 1976.
The 59-year-old Mourdock says Lugar is "an honorable man" who has served the state honorably.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
