The Republican who wants to run for governor as a Democrat

Plus: Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett sets a new fundraising record ahead of contested primary.

FIRST IN IMPORTANTVILLE: Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, who is running for re-election in a contested primary, raised $1.4 million in 2022 and maintains a record $3.6 million cash on hand, according to a person close to him, beginning the year with more than any Republican gubernatorial candidate so far as he pursues a third term in office.

The news comes as State Rep. Robin Shackleford (D-Indianapolis) will officially file the papers to run for mayor at 10 a.m. at the Marion County Clerk’s office today. The paperwork will officially move Shackleford’s campaign from an exploratory committee to a candidate’s principal committee. (IMPORTANTVILLE broke the news of Shackleford’s interest in a mayoral run last September.)

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QUICK HITS

• After an IMPORTANTVILLE exclusive in 2021 reporting that Attorney General Todd Rokita was moonlighting at a health benefits firm while in elected office, a judge ruled that Rokita must make public the informal advisory opinion issued at the time.

• Republican Rep. Jim Banks became the first Hoosier to receive a vote for Speaker of the House this week in 60 years, per adjunct IMPORTANTVILLE historians Trevor Foughty and Matthew Russell Kochevar. The last Hoosier to receive votes? Former U.S. House Majority Leader Charlie Halleck of Jasper County in 1963.

• Rep. Victoria Spartz raised eyebrows in this week’s speaker saga, becoming one of the first backers of Rep. Kevin McCarthy to defect and vote “present.” “We have a constitutional duty to elect the Speaker of the House, but we have to deliberate further as a Republican conference until we have enough votes and stop wasting everyone's time,” Spartz said in a statement. “None of the Republican candidates have this number yet. That’s why I voted present after all the votes were cast.”

• Pete Buttigieg is passing on a Michigan Senate run for retiring Rep. Debbie Stabenow’s seat.

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#INGOV: KNOWING JENNIFER MCCORMICK

As Republican candidates flood the zone in the 2024 open gubernatorial field, Indiana Democrats have been slower to announce their candidacies. Of potential contenders, though, no one has been more overt about their intentions to explore a bid than Former State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick. McCormick ran as the Indiana Republican-backed candidate alongside then-Gov. Eric Holcomb in 2016. But she became disheartened with the party in the Trump era and has been pounding the trail over the last year with Indiana Democrats.

Here, in a wide-ranging interview, McCormick talks about her disagreements with Hillary Clinton and agreements with Donald Trump, whether she can win a Democratic primary and a potential “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Indiana’s General Assembly.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.