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For 20 years, Indiana has been under one-party Republican rule, with the Republicans holding a supermajority in the Indiana General Assembly for 12 of those years. Regardless of political leanings, it’s detrimental to democracy when any party has unchecked power. If elections go uncontested, everyone loses. And we’re seeing that in our statewide outcomes in everything from civic participation to our education system to our health outcomes and more.
Indiana ranks 50th out of all 50 states and Washington, D.C., in voter turnout. Indiana ranks among the bottom six states in education due to its lack of state preschool programs and because the state does not do enough to make pre-K widely available. And Indiana ranks as 10th-worst for health care due to high costs and poor outcome.
One-party Republican dominance has generally led to a lack of progress across all 92 counties.
We need groups determined to bring up a new generation of leaders to return our state to a thriving two-party democracy. Who wins matters, of course, but whether there’s a contest at all will be the rising tide that will lift all boats.
That’s why I founded Next Gen Hoosiers—to find and lift up public servants from across the political spectrum who will bring competition back to our state. Leaders like State Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, State Sen. Rodney Pol, Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun and Evansville City Councilor Alex Burton are already demonstrating optimistic and results-oriented leadership. These newer voices are essential for driving change and progress in Indiana’s political landscape. We need more folks like them in elected office.
One doesn’t have to look beyond the governor’s race to see what the problem is.
In Jennifer McCormick, we have a former statewide elected Republican running as a Democrat because she’s a moderate in a Republican Party gone astray. She ran unopposed in the Democratic primary not because of the strength of her candidacy but because of the weakness of the Democratic Party label in Indiana and unlikely success in the general election.
In Mike Braun, we have a former Democrat who cosplayed as a MAGA Republican in order to win a seat in the U.S. Senate and—now that he’s bored—wants to be governor. He won a crowded primary in what has been dubbed “a campaign about nothing.” Even former Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels said it’s “comical” to see candidates for governor of Indiana talking about China and the border when “the job will ultimately be about other things.”
On both sides of the aisle, we need new voices. We need leaders that are more interested in getting results for all Hoosiers than they are in fighting “the other side” and moving up another rung on the ladder.
Democracy dies when we stop seeing our ability to shape it. But we all have a voice, and we all have a role to play in bringing democracy back to our politics.
Rather than be defeatist about the current political landscape in Indiana, work to change it. Find and support an organization or a candidate that shares your perspective. Build community and use your platform—however large it might be—to make a difference.
Nothing will change on its own. We have to be the change.•
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Hornedo is an attorney, national political strategist and the founder of Next Gen Hoosier. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.
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By state Constitution, Indiana is one of the few states that does not allow binding referenda to be balloted. Binding referenda is one way to keep politicians in check. We need to work towards amending the state constitution to allow this.