Jennifer McCormick, the Democratic nominee for Indiana governor, believes she has a viable plan for ending two decades of Republican control of the executive branch of state government.
Ironically, it relies on Republicans and former Republicans, like McCormick, disaffected with the direction of the Donald Trump-era GOP turning away from Trump-endorsed U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, and partnering with Democratic voters "to restore common sense" in the Hoosier State.
"Hoosiers across the state and across the political aisle are tired of extremism and refuse to turn Indiana over to the extremism and chaos that Mike Braun represents," McCormick said. "Hoosier values reflect those of common sense, civility and bipartisanship. Let's bring this back to our great state."
A memo provided to The Times by McCormick's campaign details exactly how the former state superintendent of public instruction — who was elected statewide as a Republican in 2016 with more votes than Gov. Eric Holcomb but changed her party affiliation in 2021 to Democratic — hopes to do it.
In part, McCormick anticipates a significant portion of Republican primary voters, 60% of whom did not vote for Braun, will be open to supporting a candidate, even a Democratic candidate, determined to take a "moderate, bipartisan approach" to leading the state.
"Braun faced a messy and expensive Republican primary — the most expensive in state history — where members of his own party turned against him, spending millions of dollars on ads attacking his record of shipping jobs overseas, increasing taxes, and failing to address the crisis at the border, and went on the attack in debates to make sure Hoosiers knew about his record," the memo says.
In contrast, the memo observes, "Jennifer's experience as an educator and her independent track record have allowed her to earn support from across the aisle and win statewide."
On specific issues, McCormick's memo identifies three Indiana concerns she plans to prioritize, while noting Braun has, to this point, mostly relied on hot-button national topics, like the U.S.-Mexico border and China policy, to rev up his supporters.
McCormick, who would be the state's first female governor, will emphasize reproductive rights in her campaign by seeking to undo or modify the state's near-total abortion ban approved in 2022 by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.
"Protecting reproductive rights has proven to be galvanizing for voters from all parties in even some of the reddest states, including Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio, and Hoosiers' disapproval of the state’s current restrictive ban could play a major role in turnout in Indiana this November," according to McCormick's memo.
The memo chides Braun for welcoming the U.S. Supreme Court decision reversing Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, and for expressing interest in the nation's high court similarly allowing states to set their own policies on other seemingly long-settled issues, such as interracial marriage.
McCormick's campaign also plans to emphasize her support for public education in connection with McCormick's experience as a teacher, principal and superintendent at Indiana schools, along with her four years as head of the Indiana Department of Education.
Specifically, McCormick will offer solutions to Indiana's teacher shortage, resist efforts to end collective bargaining for teachers, reduce the diversion of state funds from public schools to charter schools and private school vouchers, and work to preserve rural school districts, according to her campaign memo.
"Throughout her time as the state superintendent, she fought extreme voices in the legislature who were looking to defund public education in favor of unaccountable private schools. She was also a fiscal conservative who protected tax dollars and ensured money went where it was supposed to go — the classroom," the memo says.
Finally, McCormick is planning to highlight economic and workforce development as key issues in her campaign for governor, just as Holcomb, the term-limited Republican incumbent, has during his eight-year tenure as governor.
In that vein, the memo details how McCormick will criticize Braun for voting in the Senate against major federal jobs programs, including the CHIPS and Science Act, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., that are poised to bring billions of dollars in technology investments to the Hoosier State.
"She will reject the divisive culture war issues that have cost the state money and would make businesses less inclined to make Indiana their next home," the memo says.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, is among those who thinks McCormick might just have a winning strategy for becoming Indiana governor.
"As a lifelong educator, Jennifer has spent decades advocating for public schools and ensuring teachers, students and districts had the resources they needed to thrive. Jennifer has always been an independent voice for Indiana, and is focused on bringing both parties together to fully fund public education, restore fundamental freedoms, and bring back good-paying jobs and businesses across the entire state," Walz said.
In contrast, Indiana Republican Party Press Secretary Griffin Reid contends this is another chapter in McCormick's "streak of misleading Hoosiers by saying and doing anything to get elected."
"The fact is Jennifer McCormick is another liberal Democrat running to promote the Biden agenda in Indiana. Time and again, Hoosiers have rejected extreme Democrats like Dr. McCormick, and we intend to work with Mike Braun to ensure the result is the same this November," Reid said.
Libertarian Donald Rainwater also is competing against McCormick and Braun at the Nov. 5 general election for a four-year term as governor.
Rainwater won 11.4% of the vote in the 2020 governor's race due in part to some Republicans abandoning Holcomb over his COVID-19 prevention policies.
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