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Request a DemoU.S. Sen. Mike Braun was declared the winner of the Republican gubernatorial nomination shortly after polls in Indiana’s Central Time Zone closed. With 98% of votes counted as of Wednesday morning, Braun had 39.6%, followed by Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch with 21.8%, Brad Chambers with 17.5%, Eric Doden with 11.9 %, Jamie Reitenour with 4.8% and Curtis Hill with 4.5%. Results are preliminary until the primary is certified by election officials.
Braun will face Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater in the November election. McCormick served one term as a Republican superintendent of public instruction but did not seek a second term. She switched to the Democratic Party in 2019.
“You can see we’ve come through, just now this evening, that first hurdle jumped, with the feistiest, most competitive primary we’ve had in the history of our state,” Braun told supporters during his election watch party at Moontown Brewing Co. in Whitestown. “I’ve already had three folks that I ran against aggressively call in, wish me luck and get on board so we can beat the other side of the aisle when it comes to the election in November. I intend to be the most entrepreneurial governor our state has ever known. I can guarantee you, I’ll be the most accessible governor our state has ever had.”
Braun raised more than $12 million, the most any gubernatorial candidate has raised for an open seat in Hoosier history. And unlike the 2018 U.S. Senate race in which he loaned his campaign more than $10 million, this time he spent zero of his own money.
“I think that’s dictated by the number of people and how well financed they are,” Braun said in Whitestown on Tuesday afternoon. “I raised every penny here and more than any of the other candidates in terms of raising it, not writing a check. And you’ve got four well-financed campaigns. Very seldom do you have more than maybe one or two, and it’s kind of a foregone conclusion in terms of who the party might want. This is one of those robust, competitive, feisty campaigns, and, sadly, it ends up costing this much.”
Josh Kelley, Braun’s chief of staff and senior adviser to his gubernatorial campaign, said Braun has raised money from “low-dollar and high-dollar donors. So you’ve got Hoosiers across the state that are willing to write $5, $10, $25 checks to get behind Mike.”
McCormick said in a statement after Braun was nominated: “The primary results are in, setting up a clear choice this November. As your governor, I will stand firm in my commitment to the values that define us as Hoosiers. I will fight to restore our reproductive rights and freedoms, champion for our kids and ensure Hoosiers earn the wages they deserve. Indiana values reflect those of common sense, civility, and bipartisanship.”
The McCormick campaign added, “In stark contrast, Mike Braun’s victory in the Republican primary signals a troubling embrace of extremism that threatens to divide our state and sow further discord. His platform of chaos and fear offers no real solutions to the pressing issues facing Hoosiers, instead opting for divisive rhetoric and fear-mongering tactics.”
If elected in November, Braun would become the first modern Indiana governor to have served on a local school board and would become the second U.S. senator from Indiana to become governor, joining Thomas A. Hendricks, who served in the Senate from 1863-69 before winning the governor’s office in 1872. Several former governors — Republicans Henry Lane in 1861 and Oliver P. Morton in 1867, and Democrats Samuel Ralston in 1922 and Evan Bayh in 1999 — later served in the U.S. Senate.
If he wins in November, Braun told State Affairs/Howey Politics Indiana he intends to name Kelley his chief of staff. Informed and reliable sources said his wife — Jasper businesswoman Maureen — and four children, Ashley, Jason, Jeff and Kristen, make up his “kitchen cabinet.” The couple were high school sweethearts. After Braun, 70, graduated from Jasper High School, he earned degrees from Wabash College and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University. The couple resisted temptations to go to Wall Street, deciding to return to Jasper, where she opened a downtown business and he developed Meyer Distributing into a national logistics hub.
In a 2018 social media post during his Senate race, Maureen Braun said that after more than 40 years of marriage, “I know him best.” She added, “Here are the top 10 words I would use to describe him: honest, humble, hard-working, patient, persistent, energetic, visionary, doer, intelligent, and leader. These character descriptions are the same now as they were in high school …”
As far as potential allies in the General Assembly, Braun told State Affairs/Howey Politics Indiana that he had earned then-House Roads and Transportation Committee Chairman Ed Soliday’s trust while working on road projects for the Jasper area. He has also been close to state Sen. Mark Messmer, who is seeking the 8th Congressional District Republican nomination.
Sources close to Braun told State Affairs/Howey Politics Indiana that the senator “is very smart, kind and thoughtful but also knows what he wants to accomplish.”
They also said he has been consistently underestimated despite a statewide political career where he has defeated two congressmen (Luke Messer and Todd Rokita), a U.S. senator (Joe Donnelly), Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, a former attorney general (Curtis Hill) and two very wealthy businessmen (Doden and Chambers) who spent a combined $24 million to try to defeat him in the primary.
Kelley said Braun has raised more money than any other gubernatorial candidate in a primary. “I’m not sure that a lot of the folks who have spent a lot of their own money on this are going to see a return on that investment,” Kelley said. “I think a lot of them ultimately underestimated Mike Braun’s ability to continue to inspire Hoosiers to fund him, to stand up to these folks that were funding these races so aggressively.”
According to the media monitoring group AdImpact, $38.7 million had been spent on this Republican gubernatorial primary as of Monday. Chambers was the leading advertiser, spending $12.7 million, followed by Doden at $12.2 million. Chambers had outspent Doden by $588,000 on digital platforms.
Braun spent $8.6 million, according to AdImpact. He had seen $12.2 million in ad support when factoring in issue group spending, just behind Chambers and Doden. Hoosier Hope had spent $3.6 million in support of Braun.
Crouch spent $5.2 million, AdImpact reported, and despite having approximately $7 million less in ad support, she led all candidates in digital spending with $705,000, or $64,000 more than Chambers.
Braun focused on immigration, given the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. He also spoke about lowering the cost of health care. (Two health care company CEOs gave six-figure checks to an opponent.) He talked about education, empowering parents, the economy and being the most entrepreneurial governor.
Some speculation swirled that Braun’s biggest liability came in the summer of 2020 when he floated implied police immunity legislation, but in this primary race he has the endorsement of two law enforcement groups: the Indiana State Police Alliance and the National Troopers Coalition.
Braun was the first candidate to endorse Donald Trump and later received his endorsement.
Does Braun plan to weigh in on a lieutenant governor pick or leave it up to the party? “No, we’re gonna have, I think, a recommendation for lieutenant governor, and you’ll probably be hearing that soon provided we get over the finish line tonight,” he said.
Asked whether he’s worried about Micah Beckwith’s lieutenant governor campaign, Braun said, “No, I love competition, love transparency. I think that it’s best for your customers and a business if you compete. And I think it’s the same thing in politics — very similar. It’s an analog that I’ve learned there and applied it to politics. So if he pushes, that’s fine.”
Asked what kind of governor he intends to be, Braun told Howey Politics Indiana in October 2023: “I’ll be able to distill best practices. Look what Mitch Daniels did. He came in 2004, he inherited a budget that was in the red that had been run recently by Democrats. So he had to get the state’s financial cash flowing. And then you look at what he did when he started to address issues. We are the ‘Crossroads of America’ and we weren’t even funding roads the right way. Almost every penny of the fuel tax was being spent on other stuff. He started fixing things that would have been most apparent that needed to be fixed.”
Asked if he is more of an executive than a legislator, Braun responded, “I feel I’m good at both because legislatively I knew what to get done as a legislator. I passed a unique regional authority bill that helped us down here on a road project we talked about for 40 years in the abstract. To me, if you’re an entrepreneur, you know how to get from here to there.”
McCormick’s path
Meeting with Democratic nominee Jennifer McCormick in Indianapolis mid-Tuesday afternoon, State Affairs/Howey Politics Indiana asked her what her path to victory is.
“We have a clear path to victory,” she said. “Will it be easy? No. I know what I’m up against. Given where we were coming off the municipals, where we got some good wins in Evansville and Terre Haute but we also got good wins in rural Indiana, where Democrats hadn’t won in 45 years.
“Based on my travels across the state, I truly believe we are on the correct side of the issues,” she continued. “It’s limits to reproductive freedoms, education, good jobs. People want to talk about issues that impact them on a daily basis. They don’t want to hear the fear and chaos of those national issues that are kind of hanging on the Republican side right now. I hear that across the board.”
Asked if her nomination will essentially become a referendum on abortion rights, McCormick said, “That’s exactly right. A vote for me is a vote for that purpose. That’s exactly what this race will be. There’s a clear difference, regardless of who that Republican nominee will be. We saw their answers during the debates, as crazy as they were. There’s a clear difference. I’m going to fight to restore those rights under any authority I can, working in a bipartisan fashion, using our committees, board and our agencies. I also know, too, what everybody’s fear is, that [Republicans are] not going to restore those rights and will take them further.”
As for a potential running mate, McCormick said the decision process is underway. “We have a shortlist. We know that clock is ticking,” she said. “We know we want someone who brings a good balance to what my strengths are, someone who brings a lot of resources to the team and makes sure they’re aligned to our values and what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Would she choose a woman or a Republican, given that the General Assembly is dominated by GOP supermajorities? “Maybe. Nothing is off the table,” she said. “I’m looking for the best person regardless of gender.”
Asked who is in her inner circle, she said, “Kelly Wittman is running our campaign and doing an amazing job. She was with us as chief of staff for the Department of Education, so that’s huge. We have an amazing team on the road. Carly Bullard has done an amazing job on the road. My circle or sphere of people I rely on a lot; I’ve got national teams helping with fundraising. [The Democratic Governors Association] has been super-helpful. My family has been very supportive. My husband, Trent, is superintendent of Blue River Schools. My son, Cale, is transitioning out of the military as an officer. He graduated from West Point and was stationed down in San Antonio. And then there’s my sister, my brother and my dad.”
McCormick knows she has a huge challenge in fundraising. She began the year with $209,252 but posted just $128,417 for the first three months, spent $115,245 and had an ending balance of $222,424. She received $250,000 from the Indiana Political Action Committee for Education on April 25, $10,000 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PAC on April 15, $2,500 from the United Mine Workers, and $1,000 from actress Barbra Streisand.
Braun reported a cash balance of $946,167 on April 15. He received $250,000 from GOPAC Election Fund on April 16, $100,000 from Operating Industries on May 2, and $50,000 from S.R. Walton on April 24.
Update: This story has been updated to include an additional comment from Braun and more recent election results.
Brian A. Howey is senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs. Find Howey on Facebook and X @hwypol.
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How this year’s race for lieutenant governor bucks tradition
The usually quiet process of selecting party nominees for lieutenant governor has taken on additional intrigue, as a controversial Republican outsider has challenged the status quo and the Democratic gubernatorial nominee is keeping her options open.
For years, parties have typically rubber-stamped their gubernatorial candidate’s choice for lieutenant governor.
Republican nominee Mike Braun in May announced his choice: state Rep. Julie McGuire, R-Indianapolis. But she will face a challenge from pastor Micah Beckwith, who has campaigned for the nomination for more than a year and claims to have secured support from nearly half of the majority he would need from the party’s 1,800 nominee-deciding delegates.
As Republicans have not lost a statewide election contest in more than a decade, whoever prevails for the lieutenant governor nomination at the June 15 GOP convention will likely become the state’s next number two.
Democrats appear to have a smoother road ahead of their July 13 convention, but gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick has not yet offered up a candidate and recently told State Affairs that “nothing’s off the table,” including selecting a Republican running mate.
Beckwith’s push
Beckwith, pastor of Life Church’s Noblesville campus, told State Affairs he would be campaigning daily for the next five weeks.
“We’re going to try to hit two counties in a day — one in the morning, one in the afternoon. We’ll just be going to county chairs and delegates and letting them ask all the questions,” he said.
He has run for formal office in the past, finishing third in the 2020 Republican primary for the state’s 5th Congressional District. The seat was ultimately captured by Rep. Victoria Spartz.
Beckwith is also a podcast host and may be best known for a tumultuous tenure on the Hamilton East Public Library Board of Trustees, where he pushed for an audit of children’s books. The unpopular plan ultimately collapsed, and the trustees who pushed for it soon left the board.
Beckwith went public with his lieutenant governor candidacy as he left the board and has since barnstormed the state hoping to court potential delegates. His website stresses he is seeking to give Republicans another choice.
Some 1,600 Republican delegates were selected in the May 7 primary election. Every county is represented by a different number of delegates relative to its population, with some fielding only a handful while larger counties field more than 100 each.
Most delegates are elected, but party leaders must sometimes fill vacancies to reach the 1,800 number.
Beckwith said some 400 of the 1,600 newly elected delegates had already pledged to support his bid.
Though Braun selected McGuire, the nominee said last week he welcomed competition for the spot as his running mate.
He told IndyStar: “I think that we’ll win that competition, and if by chance that doesn’t work, which I think is very slim, I’ll deal with it.”
McGuire fits recent trend
McGuire, a one-term legislator from Indianapolis, fits into a recent trend of Republican lieutenant governors: women with legislative backgrounds who represent a different geographical part of the state from their running mate.
Former Lt. Govs. Becky Skillman and Sue Ellspermann and outgoing Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch each fit that description.
McGuire defeated state Rep. John Jacob, a staunch anti-abortion activist who clashed with party leadership, in the Republican primary on her way to winning election to the Statehouse in 2022.
She authored one bill signed into law this past session centered on voiding parental rights over children sexually abused by a parent. She co-authored several education bills.
McGuire may be best known as the former author of a proposed bill to block a new tax district in downtown Indianapolis meant to pay for city services. A compromise was ultimately reached to allow the plan. McGuire removed herself as the bill’s author and voted against it.
Braun’s campaign and McGuire did not respond to requests for an interview.
Braun told IndyStar that he recruited McGuire due to her knowledge of health care policy and that he would campaign on her behalf with delegates.
Two state constitutional officers threw their support behind McGuire on Monday: state Treasurer Daniel Elliott and Secretary of State Diego Morales.
“Indiana Republican Convention delegates will have their choice as to who they will support, as do I,” Morales said in an X post. “I will be supporting Julie for Indiana lieutenant governor.”
“Delegates will have a choice at this convention, and I encourage them to choose Julie McGuire as our Republican nominee for lieutenant governor,” Elliott said in a similar post.
Not the first contested race
This year’s competition harks back to the ’90s, when Republican delegates last oversaw several contentious lieutenant governor nomination processes.
In 1996, GOP gubernatorial nominee and Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith left the selection entirely up to delegates.
Four years earlier, Attorney General Linley Pearson, the Republican nominee, nearly quit the convention over nominations for lieutenant governor and attorney general that he did not agree with.
Both tickets ended up losing in the general election.
In the ’80s, the GOP experimented with the idea of allowing voters to select the lieutenant governor nominee. John Mutz won a five-way primary in 1980 and eventually served two terms.
Mike McDaniel, a former state GOP chairman who served as Mutz’s campaign manager and chief of staff, said the party returned to the convention system in 1984 because leaders believed a lieutenant governor primary wasted campaign money.
McDaniel, a previous delegate of some 15 state and national conventions, supports the tradition of selecting the gubernatorial candidate’s choice for lieutenant governor.
“I think that’s important because the governor has to serve with this person for four or maybe eight years, and you want somebody you can trust, work with and be part of a team with to get things done,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel called Beckwith’s campaign, launched well before the gubernatorial race came into focus, “very, very unusual.” He said Braun will be the party’s new leader at the convention, so backing his choice is a sign of unity.
“If [Braun] has a preference, we should give him his preference,” McDaniel said.
Holcomb weighs in
More recently, delegates have shown themselves willing to break with the gubernatorial candidate on selections for other constitutional offices. In 2022, the convention chose Diego Morales over Gov. Eric Holcomb’s pick, Holli Sullivan, for the secretary of state nomination.
Holcomb, who briefly served as lieutenant governor under former Gov. Mike Pence, weighed in on this year’s competition on Tuesday, telling reporters that delegates should be the ultimate decision-makers on the nominee.
“And we have a history in Indiana of some tickets being blessed and some not,” he said. “And so that’s very instructive going into this convention and [it’s] incumbent upon the gubernatorial candidate to make their pitch to the convention delegates of their preference. And so I’ve been there, done that. And it worked out OK for me.”
What does a lieutenant governor do?
Whomever the voters select in November will have a role to play in the Legislature and within state agencies.
The lieutenant governor presides over the Indiana Senate and may cast a tiebreaker vote if needed. The position also fills in for the governor if the latter becomes incapacitated or dies.
The lieutenant governor oversees four state agencies: the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority, the Indiana Office of Tourism Development and the Indiana Office of Community & Rural Affairs.
Finally, the position chairs the Indiana Mental Health Roundtable, the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Task Force and the Civics Education Commission.
Democrats prepared to back McCormick’s pick
Delegates for the Indiana Democratic Party are preparing to support their nominee’s pick for governor, Chairman Mike Schmuhl told State Affairs.
“It really falls to [McCormick] to make that selection over the next few weeks,” Schmuhl said, adding that both parties have typically backed the governor’s selection and that Republicans are “upending tradition” with Beckwith’s candidacy.
“We really do envision it as the pick of the gubernatorial nominee,” he said. “Not only is it a convention pick, but it’s also who the governor wants as a governing partner if elected. It’s a pretty serious responsibility.”
Asked about McCormick possibly backing a Republican for the Democratic lieutenant governor nomination, Schmuhl said he could not comment on her process directly.
“I think my recommendation is when you’re picking someone for this spot, you want to find somebody who expands your appeal and your campaign’s reach,” Schmuhl said, “and who doesn’t limit you or harm you in any way.”
Contact Rory Appleton on X at @roryehappleton or email him at [email protected].
Indiana appeals court chief judge on AI, mental health, and the state’s dwindling number of lawyers
Many Hoosiers may be familiar with their local courts or hear about the opinions of the Indiana Supreme Court, but a middle tier in the state’s judiciary system shapes justice through some 2,000 rulings a year.
The 15 judges of the Indiana Court of Appeals dole out opinions on everything from murder and fraud to civil and child welfare cases. Every Hoosier has the right to appeal a conviction or ruling, and the Court of Appeals, the second-highest court in the state, takes up each case sent its way.
Chief Judge Robert R. Altice Jr. has analyzed thousands of cases since being appointed by Gov. Mike Pence in 2015. Prior to that, he spent 15 years as an elected judge in Marion County.
Altice sat down with State Affairs for a discussion on the ins and outs of his court, how changes in technology and mental health care have impacted his work and what he sees as a major problem facing the nation’s judicial system.
This conversation has been edited for clarity, brevity and length.
Q. What sort of cases does the Court of Appeals hear?
A. We hear really everything except death penalty cases. If there’s a death penalty case, it goes straight to the [state] Supreme Court. Otherwise, we get it.
I’ve had to publish an opinion on a traffic court case. About 65% of our cases are criminal. Every, everything under the sun: murders, rapes, robberies, child molestation.
Then there are civil cases. We do medical malpractice suits, traffic accidents, you name it. Complex business litigation? Our court was involved.
Q. How does the appeals process work? There’s not a new trial, right?
A. I’ll give you an example. Let’s say you got a murder case and the defendant gets convicted and gets 65 years, which is the max for a murder conviction. Everybody in the state of Indiana has got an automatic right to appeal. Not everybody takes that right, but most criminal defendants do.
Somebody will write his brief for him. That attorney will find three issues that they think will result in a new trial if we rule in their favor. That’s really what the appellate process is: Are the errors committed at the trial court level significant enough to warrant a new trial?
And then the attorney general in the criminal cases will write a brief in opposition, then the appellant or the defendant can file a reply brief as well.
We sit and read transcripts and their briefs and do our own research and come to a decision as to whether or not there was error at the trial court level that warrants a new trial.
Q. How many of the 2,000 cases your court receives a year, how many are taken up by the Indiana Supreme Court?
A. It is rare. You start with the proposition that trial courts throughout the state are doing about 2+ million cases a year. That’s everything. We do 2,000 opinions a year. I think the Supreme Court writes about 60 opinions a year. That’s what their taking of ours.
But we’re considered an error-correcting court, whereas that’s really not their role. Their role is more jurisprudential. It’s “should we look at changing in this regard or changing precedent.”
It’s really an inverse pyramid, with the trial courts, I always say, doing the heavy lifting.
Our turnaround time is very quick. It’s about three months. Some states require oral arguments in every single case, but we don’t.
If you ask for an oral argument, we will sometimes grant that. We do a lot of oral arguments, but most of our oral arguments are traveling oral arguments. We travel all over the state and do live arguments. And we do those in front of high schools, small colleges, bigger schools.
We answer questions or ask questions like we normally would do, and then once we’re finished, then we have a question and answer session with the students.
Q. One thing we heard about at the State of the Judiciary is there’s an attorney shortage in the state, particularly in rural areas. How has that affected your work?
A. I think we’re seeing more pro se litigants, people representing themselves, and that can be difficult because we hold them to the same standard that we would hold a lawyer to. It can be really difficult for them. So in that regard, it has hurt.
We’ll go to traveling oral arguments in some rural county, and the bar association will host a lunch for us. We’ll go and there’ll be six lawyers in the room and I’ll say to somebody, “So how many people are in the bar?” And they’ll say, “Well, you’re looking at it.”
That access to justice is a really difficult thing that I think the state of Indiana is dealing with now. The Supreme Court has just set up a task force to look into how we can improve that. I believe law schools are looking at incentivizing young kids to go practice in rural areas.
It’s a real issue. I think a lot of it stems from the low bar passage rate of the last 10+ years. It’ll be interesting to see what the task force thinks.
Q. How has technology impacted the court?
A. Technology has been huge. All our work is done online now. The briefs are filed online.
The technology that we have to keep an eye on, and we’re already looking at, is artificial intelligence. What impact is that going to have on the courts, especially our courts?
You can punch a button and write an opinion. It’s probably not going to be very good, but as technology improves, it’s going to be. We’re kind of leery of that.
But at the same time, from a research standpoint, it’s been a very valuable tool. We’ve been using AI in that regard for researching for some time now, with Westlaw and Lexus as they’ve come out with those kinds of tools.
Q. There have been changes in how the world views mental health. How has that impacted the court?
A. I see it primarily in the sentencing arena. Before every defendant is sentenced by a trial court, a pre-sentence investigation is prepared on them. And so that’s where you see a lot of that because it discusses their entire background, and the number of people with mental health issues coming through has really increased greatly.
I think the pandemic had a lot to do with that as well. But again, the mental health issues are very much creeping into the system, and one of the things that we’re constantly working on trying to be aware of and trying to, to the extent we can with alternatives to incarceration, assist people.
Q. Are there any other challenges facing today’s judiciary?
A. I guess not necessarily my court, but courts in general. It appears to me that Congress is broken. They’re not passing laws.
So, what are we doing? We have to rely on the other two branches of government to kind of take up the slack, and that’s why you’re seeing tons of executive orders.
That’s not traditionally their job, and then you’re seeing the courts being called upon to determine whether or not those regulations are enforceable.
I see that as a long-term problem that we’ve got to get corrected.
Contact Rory Appleton on X at @roryehappleton or email him at [email protected].
How McCormick, Braun view abortion, taxes and other key issues
A Democrat-turned-Republican and Republican-turned-Democrat will soon face off in the race to become Indiana’s next governor.
Sen. Mike Braun, who voted as a Democrat prior to 2012, captured the Republican nomination in Tuesday’s primary. Jennifer McCormick, formerly a Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction, will represent the Democrats.
Voters will decide the state’s next chief executive in November.
A State Affairs analysis of the candidates’ campaign platforms and public statements found key differences — and a few similarities — in their planned approaches to a variety of issues impacting Hoosier voters.
Here is how they match up.
Abortion
Braun: As a senator, Braun has long supported abortion restrictions.
In 2020, he called for the Supreme Court to re-examine Roe v. Wade.
In 2023, he proposed federal legislation that would have required parental notification before any unemancipated minor could seek an abortion. He said at the time: “Hoosiers put their trust in me to stand up for the unborn, and that’s what I’ve been proud to do every day in the Senate.”
He has since signaled support for the state’s abortion ban. His platform reads: “State lawmakers must work to ensure the gains we have made to protect life are secured and strengthened.”
McCormick: In a Tuesday interview with State Affairs, McCormick said her candidacy represented a referendum on reproductive rights.
“I’m going to fight to restore those rights under any authority I can, working in a bipartisan fashion, using our committees, board and our agencies. I also know, too, what everybody’s fear is: that they’re [Republicans] not going to restore those rights and will take [restrictions] further.”
From her platform: “Indiana’s Republican-led extreme abortion ban has taken away the right of women to make deeply personal decisions regarding their own health care.”
Marijuana
Braun: At a March 26 Republican primary debate, Braun suggested an openness to legalizing medicinal marijuana.
“It’s gonna hit all of us. I’m gonna listen to law enforcement — they have to put up with the brunt of it,” he said. “Medical marijuana is where I think the case is best made that maybe something needs to change. But I’ll take my cue from law enforcement there as well. … I hear a lot of input where [medical marijuana is] helpful, and I think that you need to listen and see what makes sense.”
McCormick: The Democrat’s platform also addresses medical marijuana legalization, while speculating on possible recreational use.
“We will fight for the legalization of medical marijuana as a source of state revenue established on a well-regulated marketplace and monitored by a Cannabis Task Force in order to study the issues, opportunities and potential obstructions associated with recreational marijuana legalization.”
McCormick said she would also support expunging low-level marijuana-related convictions.
Taxes
Braun: At a March 19 National Federation of Independent Business forum, Braun said the state’s property tax system “went out of whack because it couldn’t respond to inflation like we’ve never seen before.”
“The way you finance any lower taxes would be to bank on the government being run more efficiently,” he said.
His platform also calls for government spending cuts to finance lower taxes: “Reducing the size of government is the key to cutting taxes, and Mike Braun will work through every state agency to find ways to save money while delivering high-quality services to taxpayers.”
McCormick: McCormick also spoke about taxes at the March 19 forum.
“I agree with a revamp of our taxing system,” she said. “But also it’s about not just how we’re getting our revenue, it’s about our expenditures. Yes, we need to fix our gas tax. Yes, we need to look at the income tax. But here’s the thing: There are hidden taxes we’re not having a conversation about.”
Her platform also references the possibility of combining state agencies as a way to save money.
Education
Braun: In his platform, Braun supports broadening school choice and parental rights.
“As a former school board member, Mike Braun knows parents are the primary stakeholders in their children’s education and every family, regardless of income or zip code, should be able to enroll in a school of their choice and pursue a curriculum that prepares them for a career, college or the military,” the platform reads.
Braun also pledged to ensure critical race theory and discussions about gender are banned in public schools.
McCormick: Education is one of McCormick’s primary issues, according to her platform.
She calls for the elimination of statewide testing, increased early childhood reading and child care options and a minimum base salary of $60,000 for all K-12 teachers.
McCormick also addresses the state’s school choice movement.
“We will call for a pause in the expansion of school privatization efforts while requiring fiscal and academic accountability and transparency for all of Indiana schools that receive public tax dollars,” her platform reads.
U.S.-Mexico border
Braun: Braun’s television ads have touched on border security, and his platform calls for increased focus on the area.
“Joe Biden and the left have created a humanitarian and national security crisis on our southern border,” the platform reads. “As governor, Mike will continue to support and enact the America First policies that were working. Otherwise, every town will become a border town.”
McCormick: McCormick’s border-related plans are more focused on facilitating legal immigration.
“We will work with local, state and federal officials in supporting an immigrant system that creates a safe, timely, orderly and humane pathway for those seeking legal immigration while keeping our communities and those responsible for border security safe,” her platform reads.
Contact Rory Appleton on X at @roryehappleton or email him at [email protected].
Spartz, Shreve, Stutzman win Republican congressional primaries
A central Indiana congresswoman successfully fought off eight primary challengers, while crowded races for three other Republican-leaning congressional districts began to clear in Tuesday’s primary election. And in northeastern Indiana, a former congressman held on in a tight race as he seeks to return to Congress. All of the state’s nine U.S. House of Representatives …