LISTEN: Interview With 4th District Democratic Challenger Joe Mackey

The first Democrat to announce a challenge to Rep. Jim Baird (R-4th) kicks off his campaign in earnest Friday.

Joe Mackey lives in Lafayette, where he worked in manufacturing for many years. He lost a Democratic primary in 2018 to eventual nominee Tobi Beck.

He says his campaign will talk a lot about education, as well as an issue that helped Democrats pick up many House seats in 2018: health care.

“Whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, a Libertarian, independent, a voter, non-voter, it does not matter," Mackey says. "Health care is not affordable. It is a catastrophe in this country and it has to be addressed.”

Mackey says he’ll also talk about the plight of farmers who are suffering from the Trump administration’s trade fight with China – which could be a hard sell against Baird, who is himself a farmer.

And Mackey says he does not plan to run against President Trump or speak much about possible impeachment. Instead, he says he wants to focus his attention on a pair of cabinet secretaries.

“We’re gonna run against [Education Secretary] Betsy DeVos, we’re gonna run against [Commerce Secretary] Wilbur Ross. There’s a number of people out there whose decision making – whose policies – are hurting us here.”

Mackey will hold a campaign kickoff Friday evening in Logansport, before weekend events in Hendricks County and Lafayette.

Indiana’s fourth district stretches from Morgan County in the southeast to Jasper and Newton Counties in the northwest and is generally considered a safe Republican seat.

Baird won the 2018 race by capturing nearly two-thirds of the vote.