Importantville: Braun's fundraising fact-check—Hogsett's re-elect?—Hill's legal defense fund
By @AdamWren & design by Kris Davidson
Days to Election Day: 106
DEPARTMENT OF HEADLINES AND LEDES THAT ARE SUB-OPTIMAL: “Braun raised less than Donnelly when not counting personal loans,” writes Indy Star's Maureen Groppe:
Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun has not raised as much money from campaign supporters as he recently implied, taking in less money than Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly during the last three months when personal loans are subtracted from his total.
Contributors gave Braun about $1.5 million during April, May and June, and Donnelly about $1.9 million.
Braun announced mid-July a "blockbuster fundraising haul for the 2nd quarter of the year: posting $2.5 million raised with over $1 million cash on hand at quarter close, including nearly $1.5 million raised since the day after the primary, without personal contributions or loans."
But the disclosure report Braun has since filed with the Senate shows nearly $1 million of his $2.5 million was in personal loans. Of that, about $350,000 was loaned after the primary.
WHAT DEMOCRATS ARE SAYING ABOUT #INSEN: “Rep. Braun repeatedly lied about not self-funding his campaign in the general election and raising more money than Joe Donnelly in the second quarter, according to his latest FEC report,” according to a press release from Indiana Democrats this morning.
IMPORTANTVILLE TAKE: Braun’s campaign did not immediately respond to questions about the discrepancy or whether Braun would continue to self fund during the campaign.
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WHERE’S VEEP? Pence participates in the President's Made in America Product Showcase at the White House at 10:45 a.m., then heads to Pennsylvania for another America First Policies “Tax Cuts to Put America First” event. He’ll then do an event for Congressman Lou Barletta (R-PA).
FREE NETWORKING EVENT FOR INDIANA JOURNOS: Are you an Indiana journalist? Join your fellow ink-stained hacks for OFF THE RECORD, a night of shop talk, bowling and drinks for prospective SPJ members and current ones at Punch Bowl Social. This is a free event, with limited space, sponsored by Indiana Pro Society of Professional Journalists.
HAPPENING TODAY: High-powered Terre Haute Attorney Jim Bopp launches a legal defense fund for embattled Attorney General Curtis Hill. And Abdul-Hakim Shabazz moderates a discussion this morning with Donnelly and Braun for the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn Marketing Council.
Curtis Hill's office still hasn't answered a simple question: Who is paying for his high-powered criminal defense attorneys. Now, some attorneys, including Jim Bopp of Citizens United fame, are helping him set up a legal defense fund. They're holding a press conference at 10 am. pic.twitter.com/Hx6FluGuaV
July 23, 2018IMPORTANTVILLE INBOX—from BRAUN FOR INDIANA:
It’s incredibly disappointing that Democrat Senator Donnelly and his Democrat colleagues are refusing to meet with President Trump’s highly qualified Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Senator Donnelly’s inability to even schedule a meeting with Judge Kavanaugh is another reminder that he puts the interests of the Democrat Party before Hoosiers and I urge Senator Donnelly to put partisanship aside and meet with him immediately.
WHAT CITY HALL IS READING: “Mayor Hogsett not ready to announce whether he'll seek re-election,” by the excellent Hayleigh Colombo.
In political circles, all eyes are on the 2018 midterm elections.
But Mayor Joe Hogsett is looking ahead, realizing he must decide soon whether to run for re-election in the 2019 municipal elections, where the mayor and all 25 City-County Council seats are up for a vote.
Will the Democratic mayor—notoriously superstitious about politics after his three consecutive losses for various offices in the 1990s and early 2000s—run again?
In an interview with IBJ, Hogsett said, “I haven’t made a final decision.” But he knows he needs to this year.
“It’s 16 months away, actually, but who’s counting?” Hogsett said of the looming election.
IMPORTANTVILLE TAKE: What City Hall is thinking, based on my sources: Why announce a campaign against nobody and needlessly politicize an administration that has been assiduous in its rejection of partisan labeling? Former Mayor Greg Ballard, after all, didn’t announce he wasn’t running until November 2014. That’s no accident. People like their mayors way more than they will ever like their mayoral candidates.
But for all the talk of Hogsett’s liabilities, what A-list name have you heard who could challenge the mayor in 2019?
IMPORTANTVILLE READS
WASHINGTON POST: Dependent on trade, Mike Pence’s hometown takes a hit due to Trump’s tariffs
One company and one family loom large over this city, intertwined for decades. Cummins Inc. is the biggest employer in Columbus, built into a $20 billion heavy equipment manufacturer with the help of Mike Pence, who as governor passed pro-business tax cuts and made trade visits to China on its behalf.
Pence’s older brother Edward joined Cummins after graduating from college and worked there for four decades, running one of its most lucrative engine plants before retiring last December. A second brother, Greg, is running for the 6th congressional district seat and visited Cummins during a recent campaign stop.
But the alliance of the past is being threatened by the administration Mike Pence now serves, as President Trump’s trade war with multiple nations clobbers Cummins and other local companies.
INDY STAR: Swarens: 6 'crazy' ideas to improve life in Indianapolis
1. Divert trains out of Downtown and turn the railways into a linear park....2. Close Monument Circle to traffic and create a piazza with the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at the center....3. Merge Marion and Hamilton counties....4. Create an urban forest on the large stretches of vacant land in Indy's core.... 5.Build a National Road Trail.…6. Launch a Midwestern arts festival
IMPORTANTVILLE'S FAVORITE IDEA:
Create a Mini-Marathon Trail that would follow the Mini’s route (with the exception of the lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway). The Mini-Marathon Trail would link the new energy pumping along Speedway’s Main Street with all the liveliness of Downtown. It would also tie together neglected, lower-income neighborhoods in Haughville and Stringtown with hubs of economic activity in Downtown and Speedway.
Major Moves
Peter Hanscom, Joe Donnelly’s campaign manager, and wife Jordan welcomed a new son, Camden Jeffrey Hanscom.
Taylor Schaffer was promoted to deputy chief of staff for the Office of the Mayor on Friday. Per the press release, Schaffer has previously served as comms director, and will serve in the Mayor’s Cabinet as a senior policy advisor managing all messaging and communications efforts for the Mayor’s Office and executive branch departments.
That’s all for today. Thanks for reading. Where did the summer go? Email me tips at cadamwren@gmail.com