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Request a DemoINDIANAPOLIS – As 2023 fades into the epic campaign year of 2024, the “How do you do, this is why I’m running for governor” phase in this unprecedented five-way Indiana Republican primary is drawing to a close.
The campaigns of the frontrunning U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, along with Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Eric Doden, Brad Chambers and Curtis Hill have been seen in the prism of parades, county fairs, and joint appearances while the self-funded campaigns have been running bio TV ads. Now they will be girding for “contrast” in the final five months before the May primary.
That contrast between Sen. Braun and former Commerce secretary Chambers has the potential of defining this next sequence of the race. Or as Chambers put it in an exclusive 30-minute HPI Interview on Monday, “I’m in this race to grow the economy. That message seems to be resonating. More importantly, the contrast is starting to reveal itself.”
Howey Politics Indiana sat down Monday with Chambers and his campaign braintrust at his downtown headquarters in what used to be the Barstool Media studio of former Colts punter Pat McAfee. Walk in through the Meridian Street front door and to the right one will find a half basketball court.
To the left is a white board conference room, where Chambers and the former leadership of the Indiana Republican Party that includes Marty Obst, Matt Huckleby and Kyle Hupfer gather to plan strategy.
This coming campaign contrast will be tricky. Since 2004 when Mitch Daniels first ran for governor, the gubernatorial landscape has largely played out in a positive vein, sans the grainy black and white TV ads with sinister music. While Daniels cruised through two campaigns on a largely upbeat note, in 2012 Mike Pence’s decision not to go negative in the final two weeks almost resulted in a loss to Democrat John Gregg.
When HPI sat down with Sen. Braun last month in Jasper, Chambers was on his mind. “He has a lot of liquidity which is formidable,” Braun noted. “He’ll have to use most of it for name ID.”
Watch for the CHIPS Act that was sponsored by U.S. Sen. Todd Young and signed into law by President Biden as the first contrast battleground. “Mike Braun, in another central contrast, voted against the CHIPS Act,” Chambers said. “I happened to bring in six companies that were relying on the CHIPS Act.”
Braun, Doden and Crouch are expected to use the LEAP Lebanon Innovation District as a contrast to Chambers, who developed it during his two years as secretary of commerce. “That was a bold, confident decision for the good of the state,” Chambers told HPI. “That’s a 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-year decision while politicians make decisions in three-year increments because it’s the election cycle.”
Senior Chambers campaign consultant Marty Obst said that prior to Chambers’ entry into the race four months ago, this emerging campaign braintrust spent more than nine months surveying data to see “if there’s a path for Brad” to win a primary against a sitting U.S. senator and lieutenant governor.
“Everything has been very static,” Obst said. “Still to this day the numbers have not moved considerably. Braun is still considered the frontrunner. His support, from everything I’ve seen, is incredibly soft. They tend to generally like him but they don’t know why.”
In a Tuesday phone call, Hupfer told HPI he expects the campaign will be “late moving,” saying, “I still feel that we’re in the first inning. People will focus late, engage late and move late.”
Obst added, “We’ve put the resources together to sustain a $15 million to $17 million fight throughout the primary and put on a lot of pressure from everyone else to respond. That’s what we wanted to do with our race which is to make everyone react to us. So far we feel pretty confident in that.”
HPI conducted this interview with Chambers, with Obst, campaign manager Huckleby and press secretary Luke Thomas sitting in. It covered the campaign, his design of the LEAP district, and whether Indiana should make an attempt to build stadiums for the Chicago Bears and White Sox in The Region:
Q. You entered the race in August. Walk us through what you’ve accomplished over the last four months.
A. It was a new experience; never done it before. I had no expectations or preconceived notions. I just wanted to engage voters and tell them my background, introduce myself, my vision for Indiana, and why I’m running for governor. I’ve been criss-crossing the state ever since. I’m really finding good reception to my background and my optimistic view of Indiana. I’m not focused on all the bad things. What I am focused on is how to fix the things that are normal and how to make us better, and that’s by growing the economy, right? I believe. That’s why I’m in this race which is to grow the economy. If you have a growing economy you can fix education, support public safety, improve health care and mental health. That message seems to be resonating. And I’m having fun doing it.
Q. You’ve done four or five joint appearances with the other GOP candidates. What have you learned?
A. The rest of them are pretty seasoned, if you will, politicians. They’re pretty prescriptive on how they show up. I’m not. I’m authentic in talking about my background, my passion and aspiration for the state. I’ve been on an upward trajectory in getting comfortable in those formats. More importantly, the contrast is starting to reveal itself.
Q. What is that contrast? What is your contrast with Sen. Braun, for instance? He’s still portraying himself as an outsider.
A. That’s just disingenuous at best and dishonest at worst. I don’t know when you’re in the most exclusive club in the country, the U.S. Senate, how you’re an outsider. I happen to believe the voters of Indiana are smart and they’ll figure things out. So the voters will decide whether he’s an outsider or not. What does an outsider mean? To me it means I’ve never been in politics before. I’ve never run for public office. Truthfully stated I’m the only one in the race who has never run for public office before. I’m the only one in this race that started a business from zero and has built it consistently for 40 years. I seem to be the only candidate in the race focused on growing the economy, lifting the people up, taking the proceeds of a growing economy to address the needs of government to improve quality of life. So there are a number of contrasts evolving between me, my background and my focus.
Q. How does the Boone County LEAP district play into this race, because it’s taking on a political sheen. Talk about your role in this and how you believe it will play out?
A. I think it’s a clear distinction between politicians and someone who is viewing and preparing to make bold, confident decisions for the good of the state. That was a bold, confident decision for the good of the state. That’s a 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-year decision while politicians they make decisions in three-year increments because it’s the election cycle. The fact that they are all criticizing that decision I think is a really good contrast. It certainly separates me as being a bold, confident decision-maker who’s doing what’s best for Indiana versus someone who is taking a poll to decide what decisions to make. That’s not the way I’d run state government. I believe Indiana has this great product and we have to go get the economy we want, not just accept an economy that shows up. LEAP is an investment of going and getting the economy we want. When I decided to launch into LEAP – leap into LEAP – I studied the globe. I studied the U.S., I studied what our competitors are doing in North Carolina, Arizona, Ohio, Texas and China. China has been doing LEAP districts for 40 years. North Carolina launched one 50 years ago. (Gov.) Doug Ducey started one in Arizona 10 years ago after the great financial crisis. We’re behind. Indiana is this great product but we’ve got to go play to win. We have to play economic offense. LEAP is an investment playing economic offense. I like to say we would be pouring concrete, putting up steel and hiring high wage jobs for Intel if LEAP were there a year and a half ago or two years ago. We were super competitive for Intel and we missed it because we weren’t ready. LEAP is an investment.
Q. The American West has huge water issues. Does Indiana have water issues?
A. Indiana has an abundance of water, it’s just not always in the right location. There should have been a statewide water study done before I showed up as secretary of Commerce for my dollar a year.
Q. Did you institute a statewide water study?
A. No, I was busy developing LEAP. As governor, I would. We have to inventory our most valuable resource. We have a strategic advantage in water compared to the West. It’s a strategic advantage that can power our economy. Of course you want to manage that asset. That’s why you need a strategic water study that identifies where the abundance is, where it needs to be and how to get there. We were in the study/strategy side of LEAP water. We identified a few things. 1. We believed, and it was in study, so there was no decision-making. We were laying out a strategy to solve a few problems and maximize some potential. We were identifying sources of water and studying the capacity of those to make sure, to ensure that no other community was going to be affected, a.k.a. Lafayette. It was being studied, no decisions were being made. And there was a community and a region that we knew that over time was going to have depleted water resources. That’s Boone County. That study the legislature has known about it; for 25 or 30 years that there was no one solving the problem. My view was we could solve the problem; the distribution and transportation of the water to a place that needs it, it’s been documented for 30 years. We can solve that problem by using in-bound economic development. Let’s take the burden off taxpayers. Let’s use in-bound new incremental revenues and economic development to solve that water problem; that water transportation problem, if the studies concluded that no one would be negatively affected. That was the thesis. I think that thesis is continuing down its evaluation process.
Q. And now politics has caught up with it.
A. But of course. That’s the difference between career politicians versus a growth strategist, a business guy playing to win. That’s the real contrast. It’s a career politician looking for something to beat me on versus someone who believes passionately that Indiana can play to win, should play to win, is now going to play to win with LEAP, and I think we’ve got to look at the Lilly investment. The ink wasn’t dry on the LEAP district and (Eli) Lilly (Company) announced its largest investment in its history.
Q. And that came after considerable consternation that Eli Lilly was even going to invest further in the state due to the 2022 abortion restriction law.
A. Correct. It validated immediately the strategy that came from a self-made business guy earning a dollar a year to help our state out as secretary of commerce. They were going to go to North Carolina or Ireland again with that $4 billion. We showed up with this plan. We’re playing to win and they said, “Yep, we like it and we’re gonna invest here.” So it validated immediately the strategy, the theory, the thesis of LEAP; how that LEAP strategy can accelerate and support economic growth in Indiana. LEAP is a competitive tool not against St. Joe County or Vanderburgh County or Vigo County. It’s an asset against Ohio, North Carolina, Ireland, China and Texas. I think it proved itself with just the Lilly transaction.
Q. Will there be similar opportunities or dilemmas with the coming automakers’ strategy to convert from the internal combustion engine to electric vehicles? Ohio and Michigan are building new EV battery factories. There’s one coming to New Carlisle.
A. My north star was raising wages in Indiana and making sure Indiana gets more than its fair share of global trade. It should. We have great universities, great people, great workforce and location. We have stable government. We’ve got low taxation. We have a 100-year history of building things in advanced manufacturing. There’s a trillion dollars coming out of China. There are hundreds of billions of dollars circulating in the country due to energy transition. Indiana should get more than its fair share. I set out to do that. During my term as secretary of commerce not only did we break every economic development record in state history, we brought in new industry: EV batteries. They had never been here before. Mike Braun, in another central contrast, voted against the CHIPS Act. I happened to bring in six companies that were relying on the CHIPS Act, on Todd Young’s vote for the CHIPS Act.
Q. So Odon, Ind., is becoming a semi-conductor hub.
A. LEAP and Lafayette are also going to be semi-conductor opportunities. Crane Naval Center is an incredible asset for the state. But remember, we had no semi-conductors until we launched that task force as secretary of commerce. I am future-focused, determined to grow the economy with high-wage jobs and keep our college kids here, because they are making economic decisions when they graduate from Purdue, Ball State and Rose-Hulman. They are looking at that $75,000 they spent on their education and they say, “I need a return on investment. Where am I going to go, Colorado? Or Indiana?” High wage jobs not only lift Hoosiers up but keeps our college kids here and grows our population. Population growth turns into workforce and workforce turns into community growth. So another contrast with Sen. Braun is he voted against the CHIPS Act and I brought in six companies on the back of it.
Q. Do you have any concerns about Nippon Steel buying U.S. Steel?
A. I don’t know enough about it to comment.
Q. Walk me though what we should be looking for from the Chambers campaign between now and May.
A. I think we’ve built a serious campaign in a short period of time, right at four months since I announced. I announced because I looked under the hood of this great state and my saying is “Indiana is great but it can be even better.” I want to play economic offense to lift people up and that message seems to be resonating. Fundraising, if you believe that’s a version of a poll, is very very strong. People are supporting this campaign. Obviously I’m very invested. It means a lot that people are investing in us and believing this non-politician/businessman’s approach. We’ve been rolling policy out and there’s more to come. I’m clear-eyed that we’re up against a long-time politician with a lot of name ID. The only thing I can control is my message and our hard work. Our message has been well-received.
Q. You seeded your campaign $5 million, and you’re leading in large donations over the last month or so. Do you expect to write another $5 million check between now and the primary?
A. I love the fact we have enormous momentum on fundraising because that means that people are buying the mission. I invested significantly because I’m not a career politician and I need to establish name ID. The fact that people are investing right alongside me means that message is attracting voters and investment. We’re in it to win it.
Q. When I traveled with Gov. Holcomb last June we spent some time talking about Chicago. I never wrote it up, but he’s concerned about the impact of a Chicago economic slide would have on Indiana. And if you want to get him animated just bring up the South Shore double tracking and the West Lake extension. There are two Chicago sports franchises, the Bears and the White Sox, which are looking for new stadiums. Should Indiana make a play for the Bears and White Sox?
A. Why don’t we swing for the fences in Indiana.
Q. We could put a stadium/entertainment district in Crown Point integrated with the West Lake South Shore extension.
A. That’s exactly the line of thinking we should have. We are a great state with a great product. We should absolutely dream those big dreams. We have never been at this level of capital investment in state history. We proved it’s doable. Let’s shoot higher.Let’s shoot for the stars. I believe we could get them if we put our mind to it. The northern part of our state has enormous potential; enormous untapped potential. The double track is just the start. I’m excited about those types of opportunities. We’re humble, but let’s be confident, too. It just takes someone outside of politics to really inject that confidence into this great product.
Brian Howey is senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs. Find Howey on Facebook and X @hwypol.
Correction: Thursday’s Howey Politics Indiana incorrectly reported that U.S. Sen. Mike Braun voted for the National Defense Authorization Act. Braun voted against the Act.
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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 …