COVID-19 anti-vax candidate faces Chris Jeter in House District 88 Republican primary

Corrections and clarifications: This article was updated May 2, 2022 to correct a candidate's name.

In the House District 88 Republican primary a well-financed one-term incumbent faces a challenge from a first-time candidate and mother of nine who entered the race because of opposition to vaccine mandates.

Lawyer Chris Jeter, who was appointed in 2020 to fill the seat of the retiring former house speaker Brian Bosma, faces Chrystal Sisson in the district that includes parts of the city of Fishers, areas surrounding Geist Reservoir, and Hamilton, Hancock and Marion counties.

In the Democratic primary, long-time teacher and former journalist Donna Griffin is running against business consultant Craig Hirsty.

Jeter is running for reelection after handily defeating a general election opponent in 2020. Party precinct captains appointed Jeter to Bosma's seat three months before the general election and after he had won the primary, giving him the perks of incumbency for the general election. He raised $362,000, according to state campaign finance reports.

Jeter is a partner the Fishers law firm of at Massillamany Jeter & Carson and a former associate at Barnes & Thornburg. He is also a Navy Reserve Officer who was on active duty for seven years, serving in various legal jobs.

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During this year’s legislative session, Jeter co-authored bills that make it a felony to coerce a woman into an abortion, HB 1217; a bill related to free speech zones on college campuses, HB 1190; and a bill to expunge eviction records in some cases, HB 1214.

Jeter co-authored a bill, HB 1041, that would prohibit trans athletes from participating in woman’s sport in elementary and high school and is among a group who have supported an override of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s veto of the legislation.

Jeter also has called for special legislative session to further restrict abortion should the U.S. Supreme Court repeal or partly repeal it when it hears a case later this year.

Jeter didn’t respond to interview requests.

Sisson said the issue most important to her are parental rights, abortion, protecting the second amendment right to bear arms and medical freedom.

“I'm watching our rights be stripped away one by one,” Sisson said in an email to IndyStar. ”I have no intention of watching the freedom so many soldiers have fought for be stripped away from us by the very people we elected.”

She declined to elaborate in a follow up request.

On her campaign Facebook page Sisson has posted videos in which she said opposition to vaccine mandates in the workplace convinced her to run. In one she claimed a friend who is a nurse must wear a badge at work showing she has or hasn’t been vaccinated.

“Let’s really stop and think about that,” she said. “Does that really sound like a yellow star by any chance? This is something we think about in Nazi Germany.”

During World War II, Nazis required that Jews in many countries wear a yellow star that said Jew in the local language so that they could be identified.

“I am not ready for my children to be subjected to this type of discrimination,” Sisson says in the video.

Sisson has criticized Jeter for supporting vaccine mandate bill, HB 1001, because it mandates workplace vaccinations except in cases of medical and religious exemptions. But after co-authoring the bill and voting for it early in the process, Jeter voted against the final version. In was unclear why Jeter switched his support but some legislators felt it had been weakened in the process.

Sisson has also posted items on her facebook page criticizing “woke” Walt Disney World and its gay rights stance.

In addition, Sisson’s posted a video of a seminar presented by Indiana First Election, which contends the state’s election system is an easy fraud target.

“Do not believe the lie that our 2020 election was secure and had integrity," Sisson wrote, urging visitors to watch the video.

Democrat Donna Griffin said she is running to give teachers a more prominent voice in in the legislature.

“We need to address public school class size, equitable funding, teacher working conditions. It is more than just money,” Griffin said.

Griffin spent more than 20 years as an educator at Arsenal Tech in Indianapolis, her alma mater, Shortridge High School; and Broad Ripple High.

She lived in El Paso, Texas, for 18 years and taught there, as well.

Griffin worked at the weekly Topics Newspaper chain, the New Palestine Press bought the Pendleton Times, selling it in 1996.

Her background in teaching and journalism has prepared her well for politics, she said.

“As a journalist I had to understand,” Griffin said. “I’ve attended more plan commission and town council meetings than most,” she said. “I developed organizational skills as a teacher.”

Griffin said she wants to see her district manage growth wisely, especially around McCordsville and Fortville, two areas with rapidly growing populations.

“Roads and infrastructure are crucial there,” she said. “So is attending to the diverse population.”

Griffin manages a non-profit organizations Dani’s Dreams Innovation in Education, founded after her oldest daughter was killed by a reckless driver in 2006 at age 23. Dani’s Dreams is an outdoor education center for children in New Palestine.

She has written two children’s books, “Twelve Days of Christmas in Indiana” and “Old Whiskers Escapes!”

Griffin’s opponent Craig Hirsty did not respond to requests for an interview. On his Linkedin page he says he graduated from Anderson University, has a masters of business administration, and “earned many achievements as an entrepreneur, business operations manager, and growth strategy consultant.”

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Email at john.tuohy@indystar.com and follow on Twitter and Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Elections 2022: Anti-vax candidate faces Chris Jeter in District 88