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Request a DemoRepublicans pitched big ideas to fix mental and public health, and here’s where they ended up.
- Advocates received half of what they wanted for mental health purposes.
- Holcomb admin says about half the state will be served by mental health crisis system.
- Sen. Ed Charbonneau blamed the shortfall in public health funding on a distrust of the state health department following the pandemic.
Sen. Michael Crider spent months advocating for a boost of at least $100 million per year to transform Indiana’s struggling mental health system.
The Greenfield Republican’s companion bill to the state budget garnered nearly unanimous support and earned the coveted Senate Bill 1 spot, usually reserved for Senate Republicans’ top priority. Then in the thick of state budget negotiations last month, House and Senate leaders learned some unexpected news: Updated revenue forecasts revealed they had access to an extra $1.5 billion over the next two years.
The surprise money could have paid for Crider’s mental health request for more than a decade. But Crider wasn’t celebrating.
With the news, he could already guess that no one would support a cell phone fee to pay for the mental health system overhaul at a time of excess revenues. His pitch for a fee was dead, and so was his chance at exceeding $100 million per year for mental health.
“When the budget forecast came out, you could just kind of feel that disappearing,” Crider told State Affairs last month. “I think I may be one of the few people in the state who was disappointed when we had a surplus because I think that sealed the deal for me probably.”
This year’s legislative session showed how even bills with widespread, bipartisan support can fail to achieve full financial backing in a fiscally conservative legislature that typically prefers a more measured approach. It was even true when Republicans, who hold a supermajority in both chambers, targeted their priority legislation to address Indiana’s abysmal numbers for suicides, overdoses and public health outcomes.
Part of the challenge was the number of health-related problems they were trying to solve at once. As Crider fought for at least $200 million over the next two years, his colleague Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, sought an even higher amount for public health: $347 million.
By the end, Crider received half his request. Charbonneau received about 75% of his.
While both numbers fell short, both senators — and many advocates — were still thrilled to see the Indiana General Assembly take significant steps to address their concerns.
“I've spent more time laying awake at night thinking about this and what I could have done and honestly, while I'm disappointed, I'm at peace,” Crider said. “I was trying to hit it to the fence. I got to second base. That’s great progress. Most people aren’t going to get that done.”
Mental health receives less than half estimated need
Back in January, Senate Republicans started outlining their plans to tackle some of the state’s most significant and nagging challenges.
Suicides here have remained above the national average, and drug overdoses grew by more than 100% over 10 years, according to an analysis by an Indiana demographer.
The nonprofit Mental Health America last year said Indiana ranked 42nd in treatment.
So Crider carried Senate Bill 1. The goal? Follow up on creating the 988 crisis hotline by expanding it into a three-part system. The other two parts would include mobile crisis teams to respond to calls for help and crisis stabilization units where people can go for up to 23 hours at a time to receive care.
The system would ideally work like 911 but for someone experiencing a mental health crisis, whether that’s driven by suicidal thoughts, drug addiction or another issue.
Fully funding the crisis system would cost roughly $130 million per year, according to an estimate by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA).
But with only $50 million per year allotted in the budget, an FSSA spokeswoman told State Affairs that about half of the state will be covered.
While that fell short of advocates’ ambitions, it’s still a dramatic improvement over what had been planned as a modest expansion at the start of this year by relying on federal dollars.
“The Indiana mental health advocacy community led the charge this legislative session for bold, transformational changes to Indiana’s system,” said Jay Chaudhary, director of FSSA’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction, in a statement. “Our goal over the next two years is to match their sense of urgency and use this substantial investment to lay the foundation for a system that works for Hoosiers, both now and in the future.”
The FSSA is aiming for statewide coverage by 2027, according to its spokeswoman.
Some community mental health centers, meanwhile, have already started rolling out the three-part crisis system.
Early data shows a lot of promise. At 4C Health in Logansport, for example, mobile crisis teams since September 2020 have responded to more than 3,000 calls for help across four largely rural communities.
The teams are able to stabilize someone in crisis about 65% of the time, according to 4C Health, which allows that person to remain safe at home. The crisis stabilization unit, meanwhile, has led to a 24% drop in admissions to the costlier psychiatric facility, amounting to more than $1 million in savings.
Some Indiana centers are also relying on temporary federal grants to fund their transition into a new treatment model called certified community behavioral health clinics (CCBHC), which provides a greater range of services.
Another goal of Crider’s legislation is to move all mental health centers into the new model.
That will require the state to apply for what’s called a demonstration program. Ten states participate, and providers and advocates previously believed that Indiana had been rejected by the federal government for consideration.
Then the FSSA received clarification in March that Indiana remained in the running. If approved, mental health providers would receive greater Medicaid reimbursements, which would allow them to provide even more services beyond the three-part crisis system.
Will the public health money be enough?
Health experts were looking at similarly dismal physical health statistics at the start of session, which Gov. Eric Holcomb’s administration surmised was due to a lack of funding for public health and trauma care.
The final budget contained about three-quarters of Holcomb’s initial $347 million ask. Specifically, over the next biennium, state lawmakers budgeted $225 for local health departments that decide to opt into receiving the state public health funding in exchange for matching a portion of the dollars locally.
The idea is that local health departments can use that extra money for services such as implementing more tobacco cessation programs for those struggling to quit smoking, offering free immunizations for children, or providing HIV testing.
In Ripley County, for example, County Health Officer Dr. David Welsh said leaders might use the money to up salaries in an attempt to quit hemorrhaging health department employees who provide valuable services, such as septic tank inspections.
The budget also contained additional dollars for improving the state’s trauma care system and money for the state health department to build up support for local health departments. The goal is to eventually build out the trauma care system so that all Hoosiers are located within 45 minutes of a trauma center.
“Once you add it all up, it’s huge,” Holcomb said. “It allows us to get started building, not just the relationships — we’ve established those in all of these local communities, but it allows us to start working with folks who want to participate.”
But while the investment dramatically expanded public health funding, some advocates were hoping for more. Before the pandemic, Indiana only spent $55 per capita on public funding, compared to the U.S. average of $91, according to a report from the Governor’s Public Health Commission, leading to disparities in public health access.
Whether or not this extra money will be enough to reduce the gaps in public health access will largely depend on how many counties choose to take money from the state. Counties have until Sept. 1 to opt in to the first round of funding, which will be awarded in January based on how many choose to participate.
“I’m going to accept what we can get at this point in time,” Charbonneau said. “Certainly, I would love to get 100% of the funding that we started with but that’s not in the cards, but I think with where we are with the funding we’re going to be able to get a lot done.”
Why lawmakers didn’t dedicate more money
It wasn’t a lack of resources that held back legislative leaders from providing more funding to mental and public health. It was a combination of political will and a hesitancy to spend big all at once.
And maybe some skepticism about how much money is actually necessary. For example, if a majority of counties don’t seek the increased funding for public health, why dedicate so much money to it?
“The tough thing around here is nothing is ever fully funded,” said House Speaker Todd Huston while speaking from the House floor about the final budget. “When you ask people what would it take to be fully funded, the answer is always the same: Just a little bit more.”
Efforts to increase public health funding were hindered by a fear among some conservatives that doing so was the equivalent of giving the state health department more power. That’s an uncomfortable idea for those who felt Holcomb and his administration went too far when addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“There’s a lot of misconception, apprehension, because the pandemic created some problems in the minds of folks,” Charbonneau said. “We need to get beyond those, and I think the only way to get beyond them is to start doing something.”
Perhaps nothing illustrated the tension better than this: In the end, 31 Republicans voted against Senate Bill 4. It’s uncommon to see that many Republicans vote against a Republican priority bill.
For the mental health legislation, collecting votes proved to be a lot easier. It was harder, though, to convince budget writers to open the state’s checkbook.
President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said earlier this year that he prefers incremental increases in spending when possible. And on the last day of the legislative session, Bray acknowledged that some would be disappointed with the final budgeted amount.
“I know Senator Crider and some other advocates wanted significantly more than that,” Bray said. “But it's a really good, productive start.”
Among the loudest voices supporting Crider’s legislation was Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, who shared personal testimony about mental health struggles within her family. She had advocated for the full $130 million per year, too.
But she told State Affairs that she’s happy with the budget.
“Would I have loved to have had more? Of course, we all would love to have more,” said Crouch, who is also campaigning to become the next governor. “But that $50 million a year — with what we're going to be able to combine with the federal funding — will allow us to really start doing some great things for Hoosiers in mental health and addiction.”
Demonstrating the value
Public and mental health advocates are hopeful they’ll be able to cobble together more funding in two years when the next budget is crafted, but that’s only if they can demonstrate a continued need.
In some ways getting this year’s budget passed was the easy part when it comes to overhauling the public health system. Now advocates must convince local elected leaders — some of whom have no health background — to accept the state dollars and commit to following basic guidelines for how to use the money.
If they can prove enough counties are interested, they might be able to justify increasing the funding in future years.
“It’s not enough to just make the basketball team,” said Welsh, who is also the health officer for Franklin County. “You want to win state.”
Welsh was a member of the Governor’s Public Health Commission, but even he remained skeptical that the elected leaders in both of his counties would accept the funding during the first year. Welsh used another sports analogy to explain why some counties might wait.
“At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, every time there was a new engine or new car that came on the scene for Indianapolis, everybody didn’t jump in,” Welsh said. “They’re like OK, let that team try it first and we’ll make sure it works.”
Likewise, 4C Health CEO Carrie Cadwell said it’s on her and other mental health providers to prove to state lawmakers that their funding will pay off in improved mental health outcomes.
"This kind of investment is unprecedented, even at $50 million a year,” Cadwell said. "Now it's time for those of us who are doing the work — of crisis stabilization, mobile crisis, community mental health centers — to step to the plate to demonstrate what that $50 million can do and what further investments down the road can do.”
In the meantime, 4C Health expanded to three more counties this week.
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Header image: Indiana Senate Majority Whip Sen. Michael Crider, R-Greenfield, addresses the Senate during deliberations on April 25, 2023. (Credit: Mark Curry)
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What happens after the primary election?
Hoosiers will narrow their choices for governor, U.S. Senate and various other state and federal races during the Tuesday, May 7, primary election. Winners of the primary election races will represent their respective party in the Nov. 5 general election. If a contest features only one Republican or Democrat, that candidate will automatically move on. …
Newcomer Clay challenges longtime incumbent Young for state Senate
A central Indiana state Senate race may soon serve as a barometer for state Republican politics, as a young upstart groomed for leadership faces down a longtime incumbent in the upcoming primary election.
The race for Senate District 35, which includes parts of Marion and Hendricks counties, revolves around similar conservative beliefs held by wildly different candidates.
State Sen. Mike Young, 72, is a Statehouse fixture who refuses to attend his committee meetings or caucus with his fellow Republicans but nonetheless offers nearly four decades of legislative experience to his district.
Philip Clay is a 29-year-old retail banker with a young family and no political experience. He seeks to bring more collaboration to the role.
If elected, Clay would be the only Black Republican in the Indiana General Assembly.
“Unpopularity in the Statehouse doesn’t always translate to being unpopular in the district,” Mike O’Brien, president of 1816 Public Affairs Group and former Hendricks County Republican Party chairman, said of Young.
“You have a young guy working hard, and that’s kind of what it takes to beat a long-term incumbent,” O’Brien said. “We see examples of that every cycle. Maybe this is the one this time.”
Young no longer caucuses
Young, who served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 1986 to 2000 before moving to the state Senate, made headlines in summer 2022 when he decided to no longer caucus with his party.
“I won’t caucus because I don’t trust our leadership,” Young told State Affairs. He stressed his decision had nothing to do with his failed amendment to the state’s abortion ban, saying he wrote a letter expressing his intent to leave before the abortion bill was heard.
Young said he remains part of the caucus, as he is a Republican senator, but simply does not attend meetings.
He has also stopped going to most meetings of his assigned Senate committees: Corrections and Criminal Law, Elections, Family and Children Services, and Pensions and Labor.
“I go to them if they affect my district,” Young said.
He attended a Jan. 17 Pensions and Labor Committee meeting to argue down Senate Bill 54, which Young said would have hurt Wayne Township firefighters by forcing them to consolidate with the Indianapolis Fire Department.
Young said all senators are asked to pick five committees they’d want to serve on, but Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray did not select him for any of his listed options. Young informed Bray he did not intend to attend future committee meetings.
Bray also replaced him as chair of the Corrections and Criminal Law Committee and removed him from the Judiciary Committee. Attempts to reach Bray for comment were unsuccessful.
“You don’t have to be on committees to get things done,” Young said. “When the bill comes to the floor, you have the opportunity to amend just like you would in committee. So there’s nothing really lost or harmed by it.”
Clay’s push for office
Clay, who has lived within the district in Plainfield for most of his life, said Young’s decision to no longer caucus motivated him to get into the race.
“There’s a lot of things Mike and I agree on, but after Mike left the Republican caucus and voiced some personal grievances with the Senate … it’s kind of like watching your favorite player not show up to the game,” Clay said.
Clay said one of his primary campaign platforms is improving workforce development within the district as. He co-founded Arthur Clay and Co., an organization focused on preparing men of color for their future careers.
Like Young, Clay is anti-abortion. Whereas Young seeks to eliminate property taxes, Clay believes reform is the more prudent path. Clay also hopes to improve education, make adoption easier and increase public safety if elected.
Clay trained with both the national and state GOP in 2022, completing the Republican National Committee’s Rising Star and Indiana Republican Diversity Leadership Series training programs geared toward recruiting minority conservatives for public office.
“There are so many well-qualified minority conservatives that we’ve not done a good job in either messaging to or helping them explore the Republican Party,” Clay said.
“There are Black conservatives across the country,” he said. “To have the opportunity to be the only one in the state is an incredible honor. It’s absolutely something I don’t take lightly.”
Support from Indiana Chamber
Both candidates have spent tens of thousands of dollars on their campaigns as of March 31.
Clay spent just under $34,000 in the first quarter of 2024, leaving him with about $30,000 left for a final push.
Young has spent around $29,500 and has about $45,000 remaining.
While Young has raised from various sources — including other lawmakers, small-dollar donors and $22,000 in personal loans — much of Clay’s backing has come from one source: the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber’s political action committee, Indiana Business for Responsive Government, has given Clay almost $21,000, plus another $11,000 from in-kind donations.
Jeff Brantley, the Chamber’s senior vice president for political affairs, said Young’s voting record does not often align with his organization.
“He talks a lot, but he can’t get things done in one of the more rapidly growing suburban districts in the state,” Brantley said of Young. “Constituents aren’t being fully served.”
Brantley said Clay could bring both a fresh perspective as the Legislature’s only Black Republican and new life to the seat.
“The district needs and deserves someone who really has the energy and the engagement,” Brantley said.
Young said the Chamber was “beating up on him,” even though he has worked to get Chamber-supported legislation through the Statehouse. He listed reducing the state’s license plate tax as one example.
The senator has been endorsed by the Indiana Family Action PAC, Indiana Right to Life, Hoosier Conservative Roundtable, American Family Association of Indiana PAC and the Indiana State Police Alliance.
Taxes key to Young’s reelection bid
If reelected, Young hopes to end property taxes for all Hoosiers, particularly those over 65.
“Speedway has neighborhoods where most people have lived in their homes for 50 years, and they’re on fixed incomes,” Young said. “And when they get a 48% [tax] increase, that’s killing them. They can lose their house.”
Young has pushed the idea for more than a decade, and he believes momentum and money exist to get it done next year, when the Legislature will set the state’s budget.
Indiana could be the first state to end property taxes for seniors “with no strings attached,” Young said.
He said he would also work to “stand up for conservative values”: supporting tax cuts, opposing a plan to give “illegal immigrants” driver’s licenses and creating a rule in the state senate requiring 24 hours’ notice to changes in the state budget.
O’Brien, the former Hendricks County GOP chair who has followed Young’s career for years, said the senator’s long incumbency will be tough to beat. He added that Young’s reputation as a thorn in leadership’s side isn’t necessarily a detriment in the May 7 primary election.
“Go-give-’em-hell gets you a lot of votes,” O’Brien said. “That’s why [former President Donald] Trump is doing what he does. It’s just the mood of the electorate right now.”
Contact Rory Appleton on X at @roryehappleton or email him at [email protected].
Bringing back barnstorming: Curtis Hill and his run for governor
A week after Hamas attacked Israel, Chris Just attached American and Israeli flags to the back of his Gladiator and drove to the second-annual Central Indy Jeep N’Vasion at the Johnson County Fairgrounds.
Wind blew over tents, and grim clouds approached. There, in Franklin on Oct. 14, 2023, a volunteer with former state Attorney General Curtis Hill’s gubernatorial campaign approached Just. Asked if his vote was already decided, Just said he hadn’t thought about it yet: “I know I’ll vote Republican, but I just don’t know who.” (Four years ago, Just voted for Libertarian Donald Rainwater after losing faith in Gov. Eric Holcomb.)
The volunteer brought over Hill, who introduced himself to Just. The two chatted about Jeeps, the event and topics unrelated to politics. After several minutes, Hill and Just posed for a picture in front of the Gladiator — flags prominently displayed behind them. “It gave me an introduction to who he was,” Just told State Affairs.
Presumptive voters like Just are the Hoosiers Hill’s campaign hopes to sway ahead of the May 7 primary. Polling in single digits, Hill will likely need them to prevail. In the six-candidate race, he has placed fifth in every poll conducted this year. And Hill has spent only a fraction (about $290,000) of the millions spent by other wealthy, self-funded candidates through the first three months of 2024.
In absence of the same financial treasures enjoyed by his opponents, Hill’s campaign has adopted a different approach, shunning pricey TV ads in favor of in-person events. His campaign chair since November, Jackie Horvath, said Hill, 63, flourishes in front of crowds. “Whether it be in front of thousands or in front of hundreds or tens or one-on-one, he just has that gift,” she said. Lincoln Day Dinners, for example, have been staples for the campaign, which believes enough voters will be convinced of Hill’s message to make traversing the state worth it. “You just have to be more targeted,” Horvath said.
Ahead of the primary, Hill has already earned political victories. In January, he was the first to call for the Indiana Department of Health to resume releasing terminated pregnancy reports to the public. The department had halted their release, arguing the individual reports could be reverse-engineered to identify women who have had an abortion. (The department still shares quarterly roundups with aggregate data of the individual reports.)
Hill, in a news release, said the department was “arrogantly disregarding the law” and its decision “directly contradicts the previous treatment” of the reports. He insists releasing them is the only way to ensure the state’s near-total abortion ban can be enforced.
Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office earlier this month issued an official opinion contending individual abortion reports are not medical records and can be released to the public. In a news conference announcing the opinion, Rokita credited Hill for highlighting the issue. Hill’s former opponent said voters should ask other gubernatorial candidates “where they stand on this.” During an April 23 debate, other Republican candidates said they would push for the reports to be released after Hill questioned them.
And in February, Hill implored Holcomb to deploy Indiana National Guard members to Texas, as more than a dozen other states have done. Days later, Holcomb committed to sending 50 members. He justified the decision by blaming the federal government for not properly enforcing immigration law at the border with Mexico.
Yet, despite his continued influence on Indiana politics, Hill has struggled to win over Republican voters.
“He’s kind of like that pain in your side that just won’t go away for Republicans, and I wonder if his campaign is more about spite than anything else,” said Julia Vaughn, executive director of Common Cause Indiana, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for transparent governance.
The fall
Perry Township Republicans held a Lincoln Day Dinner April 2 at The Atrium, an unassuming banquet and catering facility tucked away in a strip mall off of Thompson Road in Indianapolis. U.S. Rep. Jim Banks was scheduled to be the featured speaker, and the event drew many of the state’s most notable conservatives.
Before the dinner started, Hill told State Affairs he doesn’t believe Hoosiers want “elite candidates.” He believes there is still a place for barnstorming around the state and delivering a message in person.
In 2016, Hill was elected state attorney general. Before that, he spent 14 years as the elected prosecutor for Elkhart County, where he was born and raised. The youngest of five children, Hill earned a Bachelor of Science in marketing and a Doctor of Jurisprudence at Indiana University, where he met his wife, Teresa, according to his campaign website. They are now parents of five.
During his time as attorney general, Hill was a champion of socially conservative causes, taking to Fox News to opine on national anthem protests, crime and homelessness in San Francisco. Many considered him a “rising star” in the Republican ranks.
But Hill’s once-promising political career derailed when the Indiana Supreme Court suspended his law license for groping four women at a party marking the end of the 2018 legislative session.
The court found “by clear and convincing evidence that [Hill] committed the criminal act of battery” against three female legislative staffers — ages 23 to 26 at the time — and a Democratic legislator. Hill has maintained his innocence, saying he never inappropriately touched the women.
Prior to the court’s decision, a special prosecutor declined to file criminal charges against Hill. The women filed a civil lawsuit in July 2020, claiming Hill committed battery against them. In early April, a Marion County judge called off a jury trial for the case, which remains pending. (Attorneys representing the women did not respond to a State Affairs request for comment.)
Following the state Supreme Court’s decision, Democrats and many Republicans — including Holcomb — called for Hill’s resignation. But Hill did not resign. Instead, he fulfilled his term and lost a close 2020 Republican attorney general nomination to Rokita.
Hill has since kept a mostly low profile. His most notable foray came in 2022, when he launched an unsuccessful bid to replace the late U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski. (He lost to U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, who was backed by Walorski’s family.) In 2022, Hill was also supposed to be involved in a mock trial of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Hill said an episode was filmed, but technical difficulties caused it to “fizzle out.”
Hill has kept busy with his namesake law practice and a consulting business, Maverick Consulting LLC. He has worked with the anti-vaccine nonprofit Children’s Health Defense and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a consultant on “some post-pandemic matters.” And he participated in a senior fellowship at the conservative-leaning think tank Center for Urban Renewal and Education.
When he spends the weekend at home, Hill tries to make time for tennis with friends. They call themselves the Brandy Boys. Their Saturday routine: tennis, then breakfast and “a celebratory bottle of brandy that goes a long way.”
Hill told State Affairs the fallout from the court’s decision to suspend his license has been an “unfortunate chapter.” He said it was “a sign of the times when you’re a popular, particularly conservative figure, and knives come out.” Asked whether he would have done anything differently that night, Hill said he “probably would have gone home.”
His vision
On the campaign trail, Hill has advocated for a comprehensive tax plan. His proposals include cutting Indiana’s corporate income taxes and the state gas tax while also eliminating state income taxes for residents who are 18 to 35, according to his campaign website. But he says “wasteful spending” must be addressed before the tax breaks can be realized. (Hill has criticized Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch’s proposal to eliminate state income taxes for all residents.)
In addition, Hill’s campaign centers on stopping “the flood of illegal immigrants” and preserving “medical freedom.” At the COVID-19 pandemic’s zenith, Gov. Holcomb implemented a mask mandate in Indiana. Hill pounced on the decision, arguing Holcomb overstepped. “We had a government that failed us in many respects by providing misinformation, wrong information,” Hill said, pointing to guidance on mask usage changing as the pandemic progressed.
Hill maintains the damage done by government lockdowns “far exceeded the damage that was done by the virus itself, and we’re still seeing that a lot of businesses were scuttled. A lot of school kids have some learning and social behaviors that are offset because of the time that was taken away from the education process.”
Leah Wilson, executive director and co-founder of the nonprofit Stand for Health Freedom, said Hill “wasn’t tricked like others were” during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Most of the others you talk to say it was justified to cancel freedom for at least a few weeks,” she said of the other gubernatorial candidates. Because of that, Wilson’s organization endorses Hill. She said he is “not excitable, which allows him to be unwavering.”
Asked during debates about his other policies, Hill has compared the federal government to a “crack dealer” that attaches programmatic “entanglements” to its financial support of schools. If elected as Indiana’s next governor, he wants to do away with the entanglements, cut government regulations to help more child care facilities enter the market, empower locals to make their own economic development decisions, corral the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and end diversity, equity and inclusion practices in state government as well as “radical gender ideology” and “critical race theory” in classrooms.
“Objective truth is under assault on a regular basis,” Hill told State Affairs. “I think the manipulation of the justice system, the weaponization of race, the sexualization of our children call upon us to have a new administration of freedom.”
Asked about his chances of winning after several poor showings in recent polls, Hill said, “The only poll that matters is the poll on May 7.”
State Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, said Hill had “managed to bring discredit to his office in an unusual and particularly terrible fashion.” In 2019, DeLaney authored a resolution urging the House to conduct an investigation of the allegations against Hill, but it wasn’t taken up.
Hill came into the gubernatorial race as a “hard-right, pro-Trump” candidate, DeLaney said, “but he hasn’t had money to send that message. And when, essentially, almost all of the candidates are sending that message, how does he distinguish himself? So, sadly for him, this distinction is the one that I pointed to: He got himself in this horrible situation.”
Horvath, Hill’s campaign chair, sees his situation differently. She described the allegations against Hill as a “he said, she said” scenario that has only been brought up sparingly on the campaign trail.
In The Atrium lobby, Hill spoke with his team, surrounded by bustling conservatives. Just, the Gladiator owner, walked through one of the facility’s entrances — he was there to support Andrew Ireland in the House District 90 race — and spotted Hill. The pair reminisced about the Jeep show. “He remembered exactly what the Jeep was; he remembered everything about it,” Just told State Affairs of his conversation with Hill.
Hill asked Just to “remember” him during the upcoming primary election, Just told State Affairs. Yet, after their April encounter, Just said he is “still kind of closed” on the candidate he plans to vote for.
“I still haven’t made up my mind yet,” Just said. But he acknowledged Hill “definitely left a mark.”
About Hill
- Age: 63
- Hometown: Elkhart
- Education: Bachelor of Science in marketing and Doctor of Jurisprudence from Indiana University
- Family: Wife, Teresa, and five children
- Job: Attorney, consultant
- Work history: Indiana’s 43rd attorney general (2017-2021), an attorney since 1988, consultant with Maverick Consulting LLC, Elkhart County prosecutor (2003-2017)
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Indiana makes history with record number of Black mayors, half of them women
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Five years ago, Gary’s Karen Freeman-Wilson was the only Black female mayor in Indiana. After she lost a third Democratic nomination to Jerome Prince, there were none.
With Sharon Tucker’s Fort Wayne Democratic caucus upset win on Saturday in a seven-candidate race to succeed the late Mayor Tom Henry, Indiana now has four cities led by Black women. Each took a different path.
Democratic Vanderburgh County Councilwoman Stephanie Terry won the open seat in Evansville, the state’s third-largest city, while Democratic Councilwoman Angie Nelson Deuitch defeated Republican Michigan City Mayor Duane Parry with 60% of the vote the same day. In Lawrence, Councilwoman Deb Whitfield won the Democratic primary and then beat Republican Deputy Mayor David Hofmann after Mayor Steve Collier retired.
Tucker defeated House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta and Stephanie Crandall, a top aide to Mayor Henry, on the second ballot Saturday. A jubilant Tucker told the 92 precinct officials and an overflow crowd at Parkview Field: “Today you had the opportunity to make history by electing the first 5-foot-3 mayor. To be in a place where they’re fed, loved and cared for, that’s my vision for our community.”
Many saw GiaQuinta as the front-runner going into the caucus, with at-large Councilwoman Michelle Chambers in contention. But Tucker’s fiery speech before the first ballot couldn’t be denied. “I’m the only candidate who stands before you who has all those boxes checked on her résumé,” said Tucker, noting she was the only candidate to be elected at both the county and city levels. “You see, as 6th District representative, I have had the pleasure of sitting at the table with developers and investors and telling them how great our city is and encouraging them to make investments.
“I fully understand government,” she added.
The applause Tucker received quickly indicated a new order would soon be unveiled. About 15 minutes later, she led GiaQuinta 38-30 on the first ballot (Crandall had 10), with 47 needed to win. Tucker prevailed on the second ballot over GiaQuinta and Crandall after Chambers and Wayne Township Trustee Austin Knox dropped out, and two other candidates were eliminated due to a lack of votes.
In a press release, Fort Wayne Democratic Party officials said, “Today, Mayor Tucker proved that she has the energy and support of our party, and we look forward to supporting her as she works to continue moving our community forward.”
Tucker will be the second woman to serve as Fort Wayne mayor. After Mayor Win Moses resigned in 1985 following a campaign finance law conviction, Deputy Mayor Cosette Simon served for 11 days before Democratic precinct officials returned Moses to office.
Tucker replaces Mayor Henry, who was elected to a city-record fifth term last November. Henry, who announced in February that he had late-stage stomach cancer, died on March 28 at age 72.
What’s happening in Indiana is historic. Not only are four Black women leading Indiana cities, but also for the first time in the state’s history, eight Black mayors across the state are serving at the same time. The others are Mayors Eddie Melton of Gary, Anthony Copeland of East Chicago, Rod Roberson of Elkhart and Ronald Morrell Jr. of Marion. Morrell is Indiana’s first Black Republican mayor.
In February, the House unanimously passed a resolution acknowledging the historic moment.
“Whereas, It is important to acknowledge all Black leaders who are implementors of selflessness and upholders of high standards and order. The courage to lead is not easy but it is an honorable notion to take pride in; and Whereas, The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus shows its full support of the work these distinguished mayors have put forth, and it is a privilege to honor and acknowledge their names and their duty to serve the citizens of Indiana to the utmost capacity,” House Concurrent Resolution 21 states.
“I don’t know that we have ever had this many Black mayors in city halls across the state of Indiana,” Indianapolis Recorder columnist Marshawn Wolley wrote last November.
Terry told WFIE-TV after she declared victory in November: “Honestly, it’s surreal. I never believed an African American could really be in this position. The fact is our city is ready to move forward, that this city really is for everyone and that we can be inclusive.”
Lawrence Mayor Whitfield, giving her first State of the City address in February, said, “During the last year, many of you may have heard me say, ‘It’s time!’ To me, that turn of phrase has meant so many things in so many contexts. It means it’s time to bring new, forward-looking leadership to our city. It’s time to take the momentum of the past administrations and move forward to achieve our goals. And, of course, it’s time to unite our city and make sure we are connected on a deeper level than ever before.”
Mayor Terry told Evansville residents at her first State of the City address last month: “One hundred days ago, we launched a new era in Evansville. We broke two glass ceilings, swearing in the first Black mayor and the first female mayor in the city’s 212-year history. The energy, the enthusiasm, the hope that I felt that day have carried us through these first 100 days as we’ve finished assembling our team and gone right to work moving Evansville forward.”
Terry added, “I said at my inauguration that I knew I was going to be held to a higher standard, and I knew you were going to be watching. And I told you I was ready. I told you I was going to make sure Evansville is a city that works for everyone, and I knew you were going to hold me accountable for that. I knew I was going to hold myself accountable, too.”
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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