The 10 most-read items of 2022
Intra-party power struggles, abortion restrictions, and deep-dive newsmaker interviews carried the year in IMPORTANTVILLE.
FIRST IN IMPORTANTVILLE: Brian Gamache, the former director of communications and research with the Todd Young campaign, is joining Republican Eric Doden's gubernatorial campaign as his campaign manager.
Good Sunday evening, and welcome back to IMPORTANTVILLE, your indispensable guide to the intersection of Indiana politics and power.
I’ve been on a brief reporting hiatus as I try to end the year with a bang. But as the 2022 political calendar winds down, and all eyes turn toward Indiana mayoral races in 2023 and open Senate and gubernatorial races in 2024, I’m looking back at the political coverage provided to denizens of IMPORTANTVILLE this past year.
IMPORTANTVILLE is a labor of love for me. As I read through this list of most-read stories, I recall leaving a movie theater 30 minutes in to nail down one of these scoops, as well as working late nights and early mornings. But amid feeding the beast’s insatiable maw, it’s worth surveying what stories mattered most to readers as a way to hone my editorial interests—and to reflect on the political year that was.
And that brings us here. This year, the most popular posts focused on GOP and Democratic power struggles, in-depth interviews with newsmakers, and Indiana’s status as the first state to hold a special legislative session on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Here is a look at those stories:
10. What happened in French Lick
Hoosier Democrats spent an August weekend pining for what might have been—and what at least some of them still hope could be. In an alternate universe, Pete Buttigieg might have soft-launched his 2024 gubernatorial campaign at this historic resort this weekend. After all, it was here where Franklin Delano Roosevelt used a Democratic Governor’s Conference in 1931 meeting to build support for his 1932 presidential campaign. It was here where Buttigieg introduced himself to Hoosiers 13 years ago this month ahead of his state treasurer campaign. Buttigieg, the new Michigander, rallied Indiana Democrats ahead of what is shaping up to be a difficult cycle for them at the Indiana Democratic Editorial Association conference.
In February, months before he would be re-elected with a larger margin than Donald Trump won the state in 2020, the senior Indiana senator laid out what would be a banner year for him in the Senate, passing the United States Innovation and Competition Act.
8. Scoop: VP Kamala Harris to Indianapolis Monday
Vice President Kamala Harris headed to Indianapolis, as Indiana was poised to become the first state to hold a special legislative session on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
7. The Bob Grand exit interview
A wide-ranging interview with the ultimate Hoosier political powerbroker in the twilight of his career.
6. Exclusive: The Mitch Daniels interview
Talk of a Daniels comeback roiled the Hoosier political waters throughout the latter half of the year.
5. Inside Pete Buttigieg's Tell City tour
The shortest way back home for Pete Buttigieg, it turns out, ran through this city of 7,256 in a county that Trump won by 25 points in 2020. This is where he made his first official visit back to Indiana as a Biden Cabinet member. And IMPORTANTVILLE was there to cover it.
4. New: 2024 Indiana GOP gubernatorial power rankings
The power rankings series for both Republicans and Democrats are routinely some of the most read editions of IMPORTANTVILLE—and no other publication has been covering the fields as closely as this newsletter.
3. Indiana GOP chairman defends vote and pushes back on Jan. 6 resolution coverage
Back in a February interview, Indiana Republican Party Chairman Kyle Hupfer supported the national Republican Party's voice vote resolution to censure Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois Friday at its winter meeting in Salt Lake City.
2. Exclusive: The Diego Morales interview
The probing interview with the now-Republican Secretary of State-elect came at a time of maximum controversy for the then-candidate—and minimum media exposure. But IMPORTANTVILLE got him on the record.
1. Exclusive: Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett calls for end of slating process
When Hogsett called for the end of the Marion County Democratic Party's controversial slating process— a form of vetting in which the party picks which candidates it wants to back officially—it sent shockwaves through Democratic and Republican circles.
IMPORTANTVILLE READS
The Axe Files with David Axelrod: Mike Pence
David Axelrod interviews Mike Pence.
“Pence: Trump appeared 'genuinely remorseful' in days after Jan 6,” by Ronn Blitzer in Fox News
Former Vice President Mike Pence described how he was "angry" at former President Donald Trump during and after the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, but that in the days after Trump appeared to have reflected on what had occurred and had some regrets.
In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Pence spoke about the time before, during, and after that day, which he wrote about in detail in his new book, "So Help Me God."
“The top 10 Democratic presidential candidates for 2024, ranked,” Aaron Blake in The Washington Post
2. Pete Buttigieg: We’ve had the transportation secretary ahead of Harris on this list for a while now. But it’s important to emphasize that a Biden-less primary would be wide-open, with no nailed-on, true front-runners. Buttigieg simply combines national stature with a studied talent for messaging that we think could do well in a second go-round of running for president. (Previous ranking: 2)