Inside Hoosier Republicans' and Democrats' big weekend gatherings
What pols said and did behind closed doors.
Amid the off-year doldrums of a steamy and languid August weekend, Indiana Democrats and Republicans rallied the party faithful at separate events in recent days. Inside baseball played out at both events that offer a window into the political landscape ahead of 2022 and 2024.
In French Lick, for the first time in two years, Indiana Democrats gathered for the 140th Indiana Democratic Editorial Association (IDEA) Conference. There, party poobahs kibbitzed on the Donald Ross golf course, gulped sausages, swilled alcohol at a place called the Power Plant and on the porch, threw dice at the casino in the early morning hours, and wined, dined, and toasted one another at 1875: The Steakhouse. There, a chatty bartender on Thursday night told me that one prominent Democrat macher who attended the event once ran up a $6,000 bar tab at the resort on a single night back in the 2000s that resulted in a tip that paid off her car.
More substantively, Democrats were giddy about the entrance of Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott, who seemed to don a different Hawaiian shirt each day, into the 2022 Senate primary. "The strengths that Thomas McDermott Jr. brings to this race really can't be denied," a shorts, t-shirt, and flip-flop-clad Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said while lounging on the patio and recording an episode of McDermott's Left of Center podcast. "He's served as mayor of one of the state's largest cities as chief executive," added Hogsett, who raised eyebrows with the large delegation who followed him to French Lick. "He's well known in Northwest Indiana, which is a good place to start and a good base of support. He moves around the state—with Covid precautions—he moves around the state as well as anyone I've seen." Hogsett called him an outstanding and competitive candidate.
Hogsett—who cut the swath of the party's elder statesman, alongside former Sen. Joe Donnelly, whose own presence fueled talk that he was eyeing a spot in the Biden administration—also doled out advice for 2022 candidates. "My suggestion to anyone who's thinking about running in 2022 is: You got to define yourself for who you are, what you stand for, what you represent, what's important to you," Hogsett said. "Why you run. What you seek to accomplish if you're elected, and most importantly, don't let your opponents define who you are. And I think too often—most recently, in the 2020 election—I think Democrats did poorly in many areas of the state, simply because they allowed our friends on the other side is required to define who they were, even though there was no direct relationship."
Hogsett had more to say about politics. And his remarks underscore another takeaway from the event: For the first time in a long time, Hoosier Democrats seem more comfortable leaning into their brand—a brand that distinguishes from the national party. Speaking at the Orange County Democratic dinner at the American Legion Friday evening, Hogsett asked for a show of hands in the room: Who wants to defund the police? No one raised his or her hand.
Democrats were also abuzz about the early tenure of Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Mike Schmuhl. Every person I spoke with, praised his work reviving the party, often unsolicited. "I'm super impressed with him," McDermott said on his porch podcast recording. "He's the right person at the right time," Hogsett added.
Even though it’s been months since his confirmation, Pete Buttigieg is still giving Hoosier Democrats a sense of pride—that they can make it. His name was never far from the conversation in French Lick.
Indiana Democrats also telegraphed that they did not consider Sen. Todd Young's military service as a Marine beyond attacking. "Todd Young stopped being a Marine on Jan. 6," Destiny Scott Wells—a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army Reserve and deputy chair for coalitions and expansion—told McDermott. (A Young spokesman declined to comment).
"I love that," McDermott, a former Navy submarine mechanic, replied. "That is so important, what you just said. That is so important what you just said. We raised our right hand, swore to defend the United States Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Domestic enemies attacked the United States Congress, and they're trying to whitewash it. It's a joke. It disgusted me. Honestly, that was a big reason I filed."
Republicans, meanwhile, gathered at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis for a black-tie inaugural gala celebrating Gov. Eric Holcomb and Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch. An IMPORTANTVILLE tipster and attendee texted along a steady stream of updates about an event that presaged a coming intraparty conflict as the Indiana GOP sorts out who will run for governor in the open election of 2024, with Holcomb term-limited.
Outside the JW Marriott, across the street, Indiana's inveterate libertarian streak was on full display, as 25 anti-maskers and supporters of former Libertarian gubernatorial nominee Donald Rainwater gathered in protest.
Inside the ballroom, GOP grandees were there for the glad-handing. There were three of four candidates for state treasurer: Chairman of the Morgan County Republican Party Dan Elliot, vice president of strategic communications at Bose Public Affairs Group Pete Seat, and Suzanne Jaworowski, former chief of staff in the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, were all there. Rep. Victoria Spartz was there, too. Attorney General Todd Rokita idled alone in a corner at the VIP reception.
Indiana Republican Party Chairman Kyle Hupfer introduced Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch. Come 2024, the two could find themselves in a primary against each other, but Hupfer gave her an enthusiastic welcome. Hupfer remarked that Holcomb and Crouch were like Jordan and Pippen.
Hupfer also said something else: Holcomb, he said, doesn't pick fights, doesn't run to do hits on Fox News. He just does his job.
The remarks struck at least one person as a shot across the bow at Rokita, who was in the room, and who has both picked fights and appeared on Fox News, challenging Holcomb in court over his coronavirus restrictions.
One, if not all, of those bold-faced names, will enter what is expected to be a crowded 2024 gubernatorial primary.
If the biggest question Indiana Democrats face is how—how will they rebuild ahead of 2022 and 2024?, the biggest question for Indiana Republicans is who—who does Holcomb want to carry on his legacy beyond 2024? Who does the grassroots want?
And what is the delta between the two?