Q&A

What do you consider the two most important issues facing Hoosiers who will see your name on their ballot this November? And if elected, what policies will you push for to address each one?

Continuing to fund K-12 education must be a priority if Indiana is going to improve educational attainment, literacy, and numeracy is meaningful ways. The Governor and the Legislature have, over several sessions, allocated record funding levels, and we must work to ensure those dollars are reaching teachers and supporting them in the classroom. Additionally, we know mental health remains one of the most pressing challenges we face, one with major impacts on our schools, our criminal justice system, the vibrancy of our cities, and more.

We've heard from many in our audience that they feel frustrated — sometimes disenfranchised — by our current political landscape. These feelings sometimes contribute to people deciding not to vote, and Indiana consistently ranks near the bottom of the list on voter turnout. What would you say to a potential voter who feels this way?

I hear it at every door on which I knock: Hoosiers are eager to support candidates who cast a substantive, optimistic, bold vision for the future of our communities and our state. Our mayoral elections across Hamilton County last year proved that point. I am ready to serve on day one, and I am confident that I have the experience, relationships, and temperament to be ready to help address the big, generational opportunities in front of us and add an important voice of our Hamilton County households to our Republican caucus.

Economic anxiety is top of mind for many in our audience and around the country, with a common concern being inflation and the high price of basic needs. In all the complexity around economic issues, what specific changes need to happen to help Hoosiers and their families?

We absolutely need to get our inflation under control. The sensible economic policies we have enacted in Indiana have, for the better part of two decades, resulted in economic strength and vibrancy and helped Hoosiers enjoy a stability foreign to Americans living in many other states. More recently, irresponsible decision-making in Washington has resulted in significant pain at the pump and in the grocery store for many Hoosiers. We ought to be doing everything we can at the State level to ease the regulatory burdens and make sound investments here in Indiana that make life more affordable for our residents.
 

Endorsements - Source
Indiana Farm Bureau
OneZone Chamber of Commerce BAC

Notable Donors - Source
Eric Holcomb
Herb Simon (Owner of the Pacers)
Anat Hakim (VP of Eli Lilly)
Card & Associates Athletic Facilities LLC
Christopher T Jensen Campaign
Dan Coats (Director of National Intelligence under Donald Trump)
David Lindsey
Hoosiers for Quality Education PAC
KRG Finance LLC
Nathan Feltman (President/CEO of IBJ Media)
 

 

Q&A

What do you consider the two most important issues facing Hoosiers who will see your name on their ballot this November? And if elected, what policies will you push for to address each one?

Medical Freedom, Public Education.

1. Medical freedom is part of a larger issue of not having direct voter ballot initiatives in Indiana. When given direct voter ballot referendums, the majority of Americans oppose the very restrictions the Indiana supermajority inflicted on Hoosier families in 2022.  I will not only advocate for ballot initiatives at the legislature so that Hoosier voters have a larger say in their government, but I will author legislation to lessen the restrictive abortion ban that was imposed on Hoosier women.

2. Public Education is one of the strongest drivers of creating economic opportunity for our children, and we should invest in it. One in five Hoosier third graders cannot pass reading proficiency, and Indiana is one of the most expensive states in the country for childcare. In 2024, the supermajority’s answer was to hold back third graders who cannot pass reading proficiency tests. I believe the problem needs to be addressed at a much younger age, and I support a statewide pre-K program with a reading and math curriculum. This will not only reduce childcare costs for working Hoosier families, but it will put our children on a better academic trajectory.

We've heard from many in our audience that they feel frustrated — sometimes disenfranchised — by our current political landscape. These feelings sometimes contribute to people deciding not to vote, and Indiana consistently ranks near the bottom of the list on voter turnout. What would you say to a potential voter who feels this way?

Many local and state legislative races are decided by less than a few dozen votes. These local elections have a significant impact on our daily lives. They affect the policies that dictate our healthcare costs, public school funding and curriculum, roads, even policies that affect your personal medical decisions or your right to unionize, how much you pay in childcare costs, and how much paid sick time you can receive. It is so impactful, and it matters.

Economic anxiety is top of mind for many in our audience and around the country, with a common concern being inflation and the high price of basic needs. In all the complexity around economic issues, what specific changes need to happen to help Hoosiers and their families?

Indiana ranks 39th for income, yet we have the 8th most expensive childcare costs in the country. Hoosier families spend an average of 12,000 dollars a year on childcare. Reducing childcare costs will put more money in the pockets of Hoosier working families, and a statewide Pre-K program will solve that problem. Indiana also ranks near the bottom in wage growth. This means other states have higher income growth while Indiana’s wages have stagnated. We need to restore collective bargaining rights in Indiana so working Hoosiers can negotiate a fairer wage, we need to restore the prevailing construction wage, and increase the state’s minimum wage.
 

Endorsements - Source
ISTA
SMART
UAW Region 2B PAC
Association of Flight Attendants - CWA
Our Choice Coalition
Indiana AFL-CIO
Moms Demand Action

Notable Donors - Source
ActBlue Donations
Northern Indiana Operators Joint Labor Management PAC
Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters
Bricklayers and Allied Craftsman Local 4 Indiana Kentucky PAC
Donna McNally
Mary Terhune Bookwalter
Michael C Eddy
Baron Hill for Indiana Inc.
Better Indiana
Matthew T McNally