Meet the candidates for Indiana House District 41

Two candidates are running to represent the newly redrawn Indiana House District 41, which includes portions of Tippecanoe, Montgomery, Clinton, and Boone counties: Republican Mark Genda and Democrat Greg Woods. 

Genda, a Clinton County resident, is the owner of Genda Funeral Homes. Woods, a Boone County resident, is a procurement specialist with Patterson Dental in Indianapolis. The seat is currently held by Rep. Tim Brown (R-Crawfordsville), who announced his retirement after the district was redrawn in 2021.

WFYI sent each candidate the same five questions to help voters prepare for early voting and Election Day, Nov. 8. They are presented below, in alphabetical order.

Editor’s note: Candidate responses were edited for AP Style and grammar, and any numbers used were checked for accuracy. When a statement required more clarification or could not be independently verified, WFYI reached out to candidates before publication. Those instances, and those candidate responses, are noted throughout in editors’ notes.

Mark J. Genda

What do you see as the most pressing issue lawmakers will address in the upcoming legislative session?

Since beginning my campaign for the primary, I’ve been meeting with the people of District 41 to hear their thoughts and concerns by knocking door to door, hosting informal gatherings, and being visible and present in the communities. They have shared different opinions but if there was a pressing issue, it would be government transparency and the ability to trust the work of government officials. I intend to be a representative of all of the people of District 41 and not only take their voice to the Statehouse but to also keep District 41 in the loop on what’s happening within the Statehouse. For me, this is common sense leadership.

Indiana’s schools are facing numerous challenges, including teacher shortages, racial achievement gaps, reading ability and declining college-going rates. What do you see as the state’s top education issues, and how would you address them?

From the beginning of my campaign, I have been a strong supporter of public education and this has not wavered. I am a product of public education, as are most of my constituents. It is my belief that we need to reconnect with public education through discussions between school administration, teachers, parents, and students. Every group deserves equal respect in addressing the current challenges facing public education. Throughout the process, student success should be the only focus. State legislature should be the last group to join that discussion. As a state representative, I would support funding well-thought-out, responsible and collaborative education initiatives. Hoosier kids deserve it.

Indiana lacks affordable housing inventory and communities across the state deal with landlords who shrug off local health and safety violations. How would you address the state’s lack of affordable housing and laws to protect tenants from bad-acting landlords?

I, as a landlord, keep my properties in conditions that I would want to live in myself. This has resulted in some of my tenants remaining in my properties for decades. If there are sub-standard landlords, local health and building officials should be held to task in fixing these issues. I don’t believe it is the responsibility of the state to govern over local issues. We live in a free market country. When housing is needed, the private sector will build it. It’s not the responsibility of the state to build housing or regulate rent.

In recent legislative sessions, state lawmakers have tried to regulate local decision making; two examples are wind turbine regulation and bail reform. How would you approach issues of local versus state control as a lawmaker?

I believe the closer the government is to the people, the better the government is for the people. I support local government. The folks in Washington don’t know what the folks in Indiana need, just as Indiana doesn’t know what the folks of District 41 need. Counties and cities deserve their autonomy also.

Indiana lawmakers voted to ban most abortions, with narrow exceptions for rape, incest and certain serious medical complications and emergencies. Would you support the legislature revisiting Indiana’s abortion law? What would you change?

Any issues with great magnitude, such as this one, should always be open to revisiting. I would support any changes that the majority of District 41 would request. I am not supporting a national platform. I am here to represent the people of District 41.
 

Greg A. Woods

What do you see as the most pressing issue lawmakers will address in the upcoming legislative session?

I feel that our public education system is under attack and it should be the most pressing issue we can work on together.

Indiana’s schools are facing numerous challenges, including teacher shortages, racial achievement gaps, reading ability and declining college-going rates. What do you see as the state’s top education issues, and how would you address them?

We must give our schools back to our educators. We must give our educators back the respect they deserve. We must stop allowing outside sources to tear our public education system apart. We must teach to the student and not teach to the test. We must start paying our educators what they are worth and start rebuilding and refurbishing our school buildings in rural Indiana.

To do this I plan to use most of the tax dollars we will get from legalizing and decriminalizing marijuana in Indiana. Until that is done, we will start with the $6+ billion the GOP is sitting on. I tell everyone I meet, if they remember nothing else, I say remember this, “Without qualified and respected educators in Indiana, we will never have a qualified and respected work force in Indiana.”

Indiana lacks affordable housing inventory and communities across the state deal with landlords who shrug off local health and safety violations. How would you address the state’s lack of affordable housing and laws to protect tenants from bad-acting landlords?

This is another area I will be fighting for. Workforce and transitional housing are both high on my list. The reasons are simple – I believe having a roof over your head is a human right. As such, to achieve this too many people are left without options and when they do find a place, they are left fighting for the right to stay. I blame our current administration for turning its back on its citizens in favor of the landlords and corporations that sell and rent much of the housing in Indiana.

Just like our water and air issues the solution is one of enforcing regulations on the books as well as allowing people who can pay to “pay and stay.” In other words, put rules in place to allow renters who can pay even if they may have fallen behind for a month or two to be able to stay. Also change the rules to prevent landlords from raising the rent during the agreed upon lease period. I would also propose regulations making it harder for corporations like Zillow to drive out families who want to buy homes by driving up the sale price just so they can rent the same home.** We need to support the people in our communities and hold the badacting landlords accountable even if it means jail time.

**Editors’ note: WFYI asked for clarification about Woods’ assertions about companies like Zillow. He responded with the links to stories published by Marketwatch and Indiana Capital Chronicle to provide context for his answer.

In recent legislative sessions, state lawmakers have tried to regulate local decisionmaking; two examples are wind turbine regulation and bail reform. How would you approach issues of local versus state control as a lawmaker?

On the surface these two areas seem to have little in common but in fact I see a bigger issue. The state wants to control everything they can as we have seen with SB1 and HEA1300. Neither of these horrible laws helps anybody but the special interest groups who feed the viral majority their cash. The bail reform bill, which I would call a bail denying bill, should never have passed. Not allowing legitimate charitable organizations a way to help those who otherwise would sit in jail for months or years until they see their cases adjudicated denies them their rights under the Sixth Amendment.

As for wind turbines, as I am a huge proponent of green energy, I still feel that local communities should have a voice. But when it comes to infrastructure that may benefit all, the state should lead the way and make sure regulations are in place to help control the process from start to finish. The need for this type of technology is so important, I will be pushing for the state to lead the way and show local communities how it's done by moving to power everything from county courthouses, state buildings, and college campuses, thus demonstrating the safe and efficient power of green energy.

Indiana lawmakers voted to ban most abortions, with narrow exceptions for rape, incest and certain serious medical complications and emergencies. Would you support the legislature revisiting Indiana’s abortion law? What would you change?

I fully support bodily autonomy and believe nobody, especially any man, has the right to tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body. By passing this draconian law we have taken three million Hoosier women and girls and made them second class citizens. Just because SCOTUS was too cowardly to make a ruling of its own and allowing the states to decide does not mean we have to agree with it and the majority of Hoosiers do not. Revisit and repeal, yes.

How to vote in Indiana:

Vote by Mail Application Deadline: Oct. 27, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. (local prevailing time).
Election Day is Nov. 8, and you can find your polling place at the Indiana Voters Portal.