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The Indiana Republican primary gubernatorial debate banner displayed at the Palladium. (Credit: Curtis Hill campaign)
On Monday, the six Republican gubernatorial candidates gathered for the first debate. In case you missed it, below are their opening statements.
A scheduled gubernatorial forum will be hosted by the National Federation of Independent Business, the Indiana Builders Association and Americans for Prosperity of Indiana. The event will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 19 at the Wellington Fishers Banquet & Conference Center, 9775 North by Northeast Blvd., in Fishers.
Seven of the leading candidates for governor — Braun, Chambers, Crouch, Doden, Hill, Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater — have agreed to participate.
The next GOP debate will be held at 7 p.m. March 26 on Fox59/CBS4.
To watch Monday’s entire debate, visit youarecurrent.com/2024republicandebate.
Jamie Reitenour
“Never in a million years did I see myself on a stage like this. I'm certainly not a politician. I'm a mom, a spouse. Over six years ago I got a calling. It was a whistle in my heart, saying, ‘You're going to be the governor of Indiana.’ That may sound strange to you, but I walk with my savior, Jesus Christ. Over six years later, at Panera, two people approached me in two different places and told me the exact same thing. I had never met them before. So, my friends, it was up to me as to whether I was going to obey. And I did; I said yes. I said yes over two-and-a-half years ago. Good leaders lead with diligence. We're in [a] moral crisis, and it's time for good people to stand. I'm not a leader that speaks at you; I'm a leader who leads.”
Curtis Hill
(He opened by describing himself as a “husband, a father, a lawyer, a career prosecutor.”)
“I'm the 43rd attorney general. I'm running for governor because Hoosiers are hungry for proven conservative leadership. By proven, it means what have you done to be able to establish what you'll do going forward? These times are tough. Government has failed us. Individuals we send to Washington, D.C., have failed us. Truth, basic truth, is under attack. We’ve all lost faith in our institutions. We witness the manipulation of justice and the weaponization of race and the sexualization of children. America is in trouble, and we need strong and courageous leadership.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I believe in the culture of life. But don't take my word for it — look at my deeds. That's why 2,411 babies were found abandoned in Illinois. As your attorney general, I went into Illinois, brought them back and buried them to establish their humanity because I believe in a culture of life. I believe in liberty, in defending liberty, fighting for liberty. That's why in 2020 when the governor issued his mask mandate and said he was going to make it a Class B misdemeanor if you violated it, as your attorney general I fought back and said no.”
Hill also said that as attorney general, he resisted efforts to create a third “X” gender at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. “I fought back. The truth is, there are two genders, male and female, and that's worth fighting for. This is about leadership, courage and boldness. It's about getting the job done. It's about taking a look at the candidates and determining what … they have done will establish what they will do as governor.”
Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch
“As a wife, a mother, a taxpayer I care deeply about Indiana and about Hoosiers. I have the experience to deliver results. We'll do it by focusing on four building blocks: We're going to grow our economy, invest in education, strengthen our families and our communities, and then modernize government. As lieutenant governor, we are modernizing our economy by leading the fight to expand broadband throughout rural Indiana. As governor, I want to continue by leading the fight to eliminate Indiana's state income tax. We're going to ax the tax. I’ve traveled the state. Hoosiers are being crushed by the high cost of living, inflation and Bidenomics. We have the opportunity to put thousands of dollars back into the average Hoosier’s pockets every year.
“My opponents have joined the spenders, the bureaucrats, saying, 'We can't do it; it's a gimmick.' But we can. As former vice chair of the Ways and Means Committee and as a former auditor of state, we can do it. It has to be phased in, but we’re already doing that. We have to have triggers in place to protect against economic downturns, but if we limit government growth, if we end wasteful government spending and we find efficiencies in government, Hoosiers will benefit and our economy will prosper.
“I want to create a cradle-to-career education system focused on the four R’s, preparing our children for the jobs of today and tomorrow. As secretary of agriculture I took [steps] to prevent China from buying our farmland. When I saw that lands near military sites can be bought by our adversaries, I stopped it. As president of the Senate, I took a tough vote to strengthen our abortion laws, making Indiana one of the most pro-life states in the country. And as governor, I'll make sure fentanyl dealers are treated as the murderers they are. And Hoosiers struggling with mental illness and addiction, you will be my No. 1 priority. I want to modernize state government, downsizing it, removing rules and regulations and making government more accountable and transparent.”
Sen. Mike Braun
“It’s very important for anyone who wants to lead our state better be there with a track record. You won't have to figure out what they might do when they say they want to aspire to something like this. You need to be willing to flesh out those ideas. Of anyone on the stage here, I have the most recent track record on what's happened, when you have to vote, what you're really for, not what you say you’re going to be for.
“For all of us as Hoosiers, we’re lucky we are from communities. I have been blessed to be raised in a place like Jasper. It’s a community based on faith, family, freedom and opportunity. I don’t think you have to go much further than that to know what we're about as a state and what we’re about as Hoosiers. Who has got the track record where you've proven you believe in that, you lived it and you've got a record?
“In our own state, the things we need to do better at — we have some of the highest health care costs in the country, some of the poorest outcomes. For most families, their well-being, along with their education ... half of our budget has to do with K-12 education. Are we getting our bang out of that buck? We have a large enterprise in our state government: 30,000 employees, 30 agencies. Who’s going to go in there wrestling … are they serving all of us? Who's going to be able to draw out of them better performance? Maybe you can finance a tax decrease by running it better. Look carefully to see who's got a track record of doing that.
“And then you look at bigger issues like our open borders. Some people say, ‘Why do you mention that?’ It’s the biggest issue in D.C. and it’s gonna determine the election in November in terms of who we put there, along with an economy. … Who would do the best job? Make sure you flesh out the issues and if they've got a record you can trust. Will it be someone with action who practices what they preach?"
Brad Chambers
“I’m not a career politician; I've never done this before. What I have been doing is starting a business from scratch and raising a family. I’m angry at the state of our politics. To me it’s unacceptable that our average wage and economic growth is below that of the U.S. averages. It’s unacceptable that our Medicaid rolls are growing so quickly. It’s unacceptable to me that repeated violent offenders are arrested and back on our streets the very next day. It’s unacceptable that Hoosier kids are falling behind educationally, and it’s unacceptable that Congress has failed to act on the border, which has now become a state problem with fentanyl pouring in.
“Our Founding Fathers envisioned public service like my two years as Indiana’s secretary of commerce, where I served for just a dollar a year, bringing in tens of thousands of high-wage jobs, investing in communities statewide, bringing in two new industries to fix our problems, grow our economy and improve our quality of life. It’s going to take someone from outside the system. The last time we had a business outsider, it was Gov. Mitch Daniels. That was 12 years ago. It’s time to shake things up; it’s time for a change and fresh eyes. It’s time for a real outsider to become Indiana's next governor."
Eric Doden
“We have four kids ... or five kids between the ages of 23 and 18. I forgot one. We had four kids in four years and 10 months — we don't remember much of the 2000s. But then our daughter from Rwanda joined us six years ago. I grew up in Butler, Indiana, a town of 2,500 people, and when I was 15 we moved to the metropolis of Auburn, a town of 12,500 people. So I was a small-town kid. My grandfather went to Moody Bible Institute late in life and became a pastor. He played a significant role in my life, and he died when I was 11.
“My grandpa taught me a couple of key principles that have shaped my leadership. He was adamant that you put your faith to work. Without vision, people perish. No matter how big or small his church or community was, he had a bold vision. And that’s what you can expect from me as governor: a bold vision for the people of Indiana. That's what our Indiana Main Street Initiative is about. For 50 years our small towns were forgotten, where two and a half million people live. Our plan restores communities in all 92 counties. We're the only candidate who’s ever had a plan for our small towns and for our regions. And we want all 13 of our regions to be nationally recognized economies and be in the top 100 places to live in the country.
“What is the point of having a great economy if you don't protect the vulnerable? One of the most important things we do is to protect the vulnerable. That’s why I am ardently pro-life. It’s a human rights and a religious issue for me. We have a zero-cost adoption policy. We’re the first candidate in the country and we’ll be the first state in the country to adopt a zero-cost adoption policy. This adoption policy will not only pay for adoptions but for after care. We have 13,000 kids in foster care that would love to be a part of a loving home. This policy is not just pro-life, pro-mother, but pro family and pro-child.
“And last, we have 30 agency heads that employ 30,000 people, that spend $22 billion of state money and $22 billion of federal money every year. Every state agency head will have to reapply for their job. We’re going to look for gifted leaders who demonstrate character, chemistry, building competency with others as we serve the people of Indiana."
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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$15B in 72 hours: ‘Our economy is on fire,’ says Commerce chief
A banner week for investment within Indiana has capped off the state’s biggest financial quarter in recent history, as three major companies agreed to deals estimated to bring in billions of dollars.
The state has long advertised itself as business-friendly, and its chief executive appeared thrilled by the week’s news.
“This is about $15 billion in about 72 hours,” Gov. Eric Holcomb told reporters on Friday. “This used to take four years to achieve.”
One announced project, an $11 billion Amazon Web Services data center in north-central Indiana, is the biggest single investment in the state’s history.
Google also broke ground on a $2 billion data center near Fort Wayne, while Toyota announced a $1.4 billion investment in its Princeton plant.
“Our economy is on fire,” Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg said.
His agency, the Indiana Economic Development Corp., negotiated the deals. The state is offering millions of dollars in tax incentives in order to create some 1,500 new jobs.
“These industries bring generational change for families, putting more money in their pockets and allowing them the opportunity to have a better quality of life on their own,” Rosenberg said.
The projects
Amazon’s new data center will be built near New Carlisle. It’s expected to bring in at least 1,000 new jobs in the artificial intelligence and cloud storage sectors. No timetable for completion of the project was given.
According to Amazon, the company has invested $21.5 billion in Indiana since 2010, creating 26,000 full- and part-time jobs.
Google’s new data center will hire up to 200 new workers, the tech giant said, “in the coming years.”
Toyota will build a new assembly line that will assemble battery-operated SUVs by the end of 2025. It expects to add up to 340 new jobs to the plant, which Toyota said now employs more than 7,500.
The company has spent $8 billion on the Princeton plant since breaking ground in 1996, Toyota said.
The new projects’ figures represent early estimates and could change as they move forward.
Incentives aren’t the only factor
Rosenberg praised the Indiana General Assembly for passing legislation that allows the state to offer sales tax exemptions as a lure for new businesses. Both Amazon and Google will receive such boosts, and the Amazon project could receive up to $100 million in additional credits based on various incentives.
But Rosenberg stressed tax breaks are only part of the equation as the state looks to compete internationally.
“We don’t have to have the highest offer because we bring the university partners, the state and local governments, utilities — everyone around the table to make sure that company has what they need,” he said.
The Google project, for example, includes partnerships with Ivy Tech Community College on a new job training program and Indiana Michigan Power to bring clean energy resources to the local grid.
Recruiting new industries
Rosenberg said tech recruitment has been a particular focus for the IEDC, as Indiana is looking to provide an “ecosystem” for these companies to thrive off one another. The state’s semiconductor facilities will provide the materials needed for these new data centers, he noted.
Recruiting new business takes anywhere between six months to several years. Zoning, road construction, utilities and more need to be worked out ahead of time.
The IEDC has been on a hot streak, Rosenberg said. During the agency’s first 11 years, it secured just under $50 billion in new projects. It has now pulled in more than $71 billion since the beginning of 2022.
In the first four months of 2024, $20.68 billion has been pledged to projects in Indiana — the most for a quarter since IEDC’s founding in 2005.
‘Strong partners for the Indiana economy’
“The key is that these investments represent long-lasting and continued commitment to being strong partners for the Indiana economy,” said Andrew Butters, an associate professor of business economics and public policy at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
Large companies came out of the pandemic looking to reorient their supply chains, Butters said, and some states have reaped the benefits of projects that might have previously moved overseas.
Indiana has been able to compete by selling its location, workforce, labor force participation in addition to offering incentives, Butters said.
“I would not be shocked to see more of these as the state attempts to transition toward more high-tech and high-skill industries,” Butters said.
Contact Rory Appleton on X at @roryehappleton or email him at [email protected].
6 races to watch in the Indiana primary election
The first openly competitive contest for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in a generation will end with Tuesday’s primary election, as will crowded races for several open congressional seats.
The primary won’t officially decide any political race — only the Nov. 5 general election can do that. But Republicans hold major advantages in statewide and many district-level contests, and who secures which nominations will go a long way toward deciding who may lead the state in the years to come.
>> Related: How does voting by political party work in Indiana?
Here are six key primary contests to watch on election night.
Governor
The race to be Indiana’s next chief executive has been perhaps the most noteworthy of the election cycle, with six Republicans bringing a variety of experience and outsider credentials to the competition.
Sen. Mike Braun has led in the polls from day one, including running up a 34 percentage-point lead in an April State Affairs/Howey Politics Indiana survey.
The other five candidates are: Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, former Attorney General Curtis Hill, Indianapolis mom Jamie Reitenour and two former state secretaries of commerce in Brad Chambers and Eric Doden.
The winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary will face Democrat and former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick, who will advance for her party unopposed.
Republican candidates spent tens of millions of dollars in an attempt to stand out in their crowded pack. The primary race also featured four televised debates, including a chaotic final display on April 24.
U.S. Senate
Two Democrats are vying for the chance to replace Braun in the U.S. Senate: Former state Rep. Marc Carmichael and Valerie McCray, a clinical psychologist.
Carmichael has outspent McCray in the race by a margin of nearly $63,000 to $15,000.
Both are attempting to become the state’s first Democratic senator since Joe Donnelly’s election in 2012.
Rep. Jim Banks is running unopposed in the Republican primary.
3rd Congressional District
Banks’ entry into the Senate race leaves his seat in Congress open, and a bevy of Republicans are seeking to replace him: Grant Bucher, Wendy Davis, Mike Felker, Jon Kenworthy, Tim Smith, Marlin A. Stutzman, Eric Whalen and Andy Zay.
State Affairs has identified Stutzman, a former congressman; Smith, a self-funding former Fort Wayne mayoral candidate; and Davis, a former Allen County judge, as candidates to watch in the crowded race.
Kiley Adolph and Phil Goss are running against one another in the Democratic primary.
5th Congressional District
After initially deciding against another run, Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz reversed course to seek re-election in 2024.
Eight other Republicans are running against Spartz: Raju Chinthala, Max Engling, Chuck Goodrich, Mark Hurt, Patrick Malayter, Matthew Peiffer, L.D. Powell and Larry L. Savage Jr.
Goodrich, a member of the Indiana House of Representatives, has spent more than $2 million on TV ads as he seeks to unseat Spartz, according to AdImpact.
Two Democrats, Ryan Pfenninger and Deborah A. Pickett, are on the ballot.
6th Congressional District
Seven Republicans are attempting to replace retiring Rep. Greg Pence: Jamison E. Carrier, Darin Childress, Bill Frazier, John Jacob, state Sen. Jeff Raatz, Jefferson Shreve and state Rep. Mike Speedy.
Shreve, who ran unsuccessfully for Indianapolis mayor in 2023, has spent nearly $4 million — predominantly through TV advertising — in his bid.
Cynthia Wirth, whom Pence defeated by 35 percentage points in 2022, is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.
8th Congressional District
Republican Rep. Larry Bucshon is also retiring, and a dozen candidates in both parties are seeking to fill his seat.
On the Republican side, former Rep. John Hostettler, state Sen. Mark Messmer, former President Donald Trump White House staff member Dominick Kavanaugh and frequent Bucshon primary challenger Richard Moss are each making a push.
Fellow Republicans Jim Case, Jeremy Heath, Luke Misner and Kristi Risk are also running but trail the above pack in campaign spending.
Four Democrats are also seeking a nomination: Erik Hurt, Peter FH Priest II, Edward Upton Sein and Michael Talarzyk.
Contact Rory Appleton on X at @roryehappleton or email him at [email protected].
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].