The Republicans rescued Indiana from stagnant Democratic rule

On November 2, 2024By Littum

Jim Stinson
| Indianapolis star

In her recent guest column, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat in charge of her party’s gubernatorial nominating committee, said Indiana needs “a governor who isn’t afraid to take on the tough issues that will put Hoosiers first.”

I wonder where Kelly thinks Indiana has been in the last 20 years. The Hoosier State has one of the country’s best business environments (CNBC), has the region’s best-placed infrastructure (also CNBC), and charges the lowest income tax, a flat rate falling to 2.9%.

Republican governors pushed through road projects, including investments to complete Interstate 69, US 31 and more — investment free of gas tax increases for 10 years. The roads in Indiana have improved a lot since I was a graduate student and reporter in central Indiana.

Such a change came after 16 years of stagnant democratic rule from 1989 to 2005.

There are of course some challenges. Former Gov. Mitch Daniels’ big moves lasted only 10 years, and the GOP-led Assembly now relies on double taxation of gasoline and diesel. But voters seem to like the trade-off of lower income taxes — they keep voting in a GOP supermajority.

So the Indiana Republican Party isn’t in big trouble this election season. U.S. Sen. Mike Braun learned to listen and compromise as a former state representative and now a federal senator — to the point that it can sometimes upset the base. And his running mate is an undisciplined gadfly who will learn the ropes when he understands that not every fight is an “own the libs” opportunity to brag on talk radio.

The alternative is an out-of-shape Democratic Party that doesn’t know how to propose a majority agenda. Abortion and “books in schools” won’t cut it.

Jim Stinson is a former Indiana Statehouse reporter for the Gary Post-Tribune. He lives in Spring Hill, Florida.