GOP candidates speak at Ronald Reagan Dinner

Aug. 24—The Vigo County Pachyderm club hosted three Republican gubernatorial candidates during its Ronald Reagan Dinner on Thursday night at the Meadows Banquet Center.

U.S. Senator Mike Braun, Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden delivered campaign speeches during the meal.

Braun said visiting all 92 Hoosier counties is "the most enjoyable part of the job." He also encouraged voters to visit him in his hometown of Jasper on Fridays.

Braun said being senator was an honor, "but I like what I did before better." Braun co-founded the turkey operation Chrystal Farms in 1979 and has overseen Meyer Distributing since 1981. He promised to use his entrepreneurial skills to help all Hoosiers.

He began his political career in 2004, when he ran for the local school board, and became a state representative in 2014.

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018, he said, despite beginning at 1% during the first opinion poll of candidates.

"I will be serving robustly" for his final year as Senator, he said.

Among Braun's goals are establishing term limits and a balanced budget amendment. He promised to create a good business climate, improve education, health care and affordable housing and expand rural broadband.

Braun championed risking one's political capital. "You can do a lot if you're willing to stick your neck out," he said.

Crouch complimented Vigo County: "You all are on fire," she said. "Things you have done have set an example for the rest of the state." In particular, she pointed to "the amount of caring in Terre Haute."

Earlier in the day, Crouch announced her "Axe the Tax" initiative that would eliminate the state income tax were she to become governor. "You know better how to spend your money than the government," she said, adding that businesses would find Indiana more attractive to relocate to if the state did away with the tax.

Crouch championed what she called "Republican core values" — eschewing wokism, choosing progress over progressivism and linking the "liberal media" to an "authoritarian state. She also decried "porn in libraries," drag queens and teaching gender identity.

"The battle for the heart and soul of America will not take place in Washington, D.C. — it will happen state by state," she said. "Indiana will not become a liberal state."

Crouch ended by saying that with conservative values, "Our brightest days are ahead of us. Let's make history together."

Doden shared his life story, recalling that he grew up in the small towns of Butler and Auburn and noting that the 1980s signaled "the beginning of the decline of small towns" with people asking, "Do I have to move for my job?"

Only a handful of Hoosier counties are growing and only a handful of cities are heading in the right economic direction, he lamented. He recalled visiting 50 high school students in a small town and asking how many of them would remain in Indiana; only about half raised their hands. When he asked how many would live in a small town, no hands were raised.

"That's a problem for Indiana," he said.

Doden recalled that then-governor Mike Pence asked him to serve as president of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, which he called "the most incredible moment of my life."

In 2015, he promised to raise $650 million in restoration deals in Fort Wayne and said that people thought he was crazy; $300 million was raised in three years, leading to Fort Wayne being named the 33rd best place to live in the U.S. after not previously being in the rankings.

He promised to similarly restore the rest of the state, including a teacher investment strategy, a zero-cost adoption policy and forcing the heads of all state agencies to reapply for their jobs when he became governor. Doden shared his cell phone number — 260-413-6342 — with the crowd and asked them to apply for agency jobs if they like and to hold him and his administration accountable.

Also running for the GOP nomination for governor but not in attendance at the Ronald Reagan Dinner are former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill and Jamie Reitenour, who has run a faith-based campaign.

Democrats seeking their party's nomination include former state schools superintendent Jennifer McCormick and Bob Kern, a frequent Democratic candidate for office.

Donald Rainwater is the lone declared Libertarian candidate.

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.