5 things to know about Indiana politics this week
Crouch endorsement—movement in the 5th Congressional District—Diego Morales goes to Hungary & more.
It’s May in Indiana, the best time of the year, when both race cars and political campaigns begin to rev their engines.
Here are five unfolding storylines I’m watching this week:
1. When will Mike Pence hit the starting line?
The former vice president, one-term Indiana governor and six-term congressman loves race month about as much as anyone. But will he launch a race of his own in the coming weeks?
Pence is reportedly expected to announce his presidential campaign before the end of June. This month, though, he is expected to launch a political action committee, as I reported recently for POLITICO.
2. When will the Indiana gubernatorial race pick up steam?
With the end of legislative session and a freeze on gubernatorial fundraising over, the 2024 race to become the next governor of Indiana with Gov. Eric Holcomb term-limited is off to a fast start. Last week, former State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick launched her campaign.
And this morning, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch announced the endorsement of her current hometown Evansville mayor, Lloyd Winnecke. “Suzanne’s experience in both the administrative and legislative portions of government makes her uniquely qualified to lead our state,” Winnecke said in a statement.
What endorsements do Sen. Mike Braun and Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden have up their sleeves? And will Republican Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers enter the race?
3. Why is Secretary of State Diego Morales in Hungary at a CPAC conference?
That’s the question Indiana Democrats are asking this week:
“What in the world is Diego Morales doing?” said Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Mike Schmuhl in a statement Monday morning. “Indiana held municipal primary elections less than a week ago, military ballots are still arriving, and several races were incredibly close, yet Indiana’s top election official decided to jet off to a political conference in Eastern Europe for a photo op with Viktor Orbán.”
4. Is the 5th Congressional District field already frozen?
A weird thing is happening in Indiana Republican politics. In a domain where Game of Thrones-like power struggles often unfold within the party’s massive bench of political talent for open seats, once-predicted competitive primaries with casts of candidates that can resemble a Russian novel—nearly a dozen candidates for the 5th in 2020!—are so far much smaller fields. In Indiana’s Senate race, for example, only Rep. Jim Banks has thrown his hat in the ring so far.
In the 5th Congressional District, that trend could continue. Chuck Goodrich, President and CEO of Gaylor Electric, formally announced his candidacy for United States Congress in Indiana’s 5th District. He’s expected to be well-funded.
“There is a need for people in DC who understand what it takes to run and build a business, who have met the pressures of meeting weekly payrolls, dealt with rising healthcare costs, lived with workforce development challenges, like immigration and inflation, and have first-hand experience on the cumbersome impact of regulations and taxes,” Goodrich said. “I understand these challenges, and I want to bring my perspective, a conservative perspective, to the conversation.”
But GOP insiders are asking: Will any other big names will join him in the field. It appears not, at the moment.
5. What will become of this Indianapolis Star buried lede on the abortion front?
As of around 1:20 p.m. this afternoon, Indianapolis Democrats believed they had found their opening against the well-funded Republican mayoral candidate Jefferson Shreve.
That’s when they highlighted a nugget buried in an Indy Star story that they had bet could change the race in their favor.
Shreve, according to the Star, “said the mayor’s office doesn't have a vote on that topic, but that he disagrees with the Marion County prosecutor's stance on not prosecuting abortion-related cases against women and health care providers.”
“Every time he speaks, it seems Jefferson Shreve is dead set on taking Indianapolis back to the ‘good old days’,” Schmuhl said in response this morning. “The last thing Indianapolis needs is a mayor who will investigate women and their doctors. Indianapolis voters cannot afford a mayor that will bring the legislature’s culture war agenda into the City-County Building.”
But the Shreve campaign told IMPORTANTVILLE that he never mentioned abortion and requested a retraction from the Star.
“He took no stance on abortion,” says Jennifer Erbacher, Shreve’s spokeswoman, who provided a transcript of the April 3 interview. “His comments related to prosecution were related to crime.”
By 4:30 p.m., The Star issued a correction.
