Pence-backed challenger Greg Garrison upends Hamilton County prosecutor primary

The Hamilton County Republican Party’s prosecutor’s race pits a low-key incumbent touting the county’s safety against a garrulous 74-year-old former radio show host with a some high-powered friends.

Prosecutor D. Lee Buckingham, 56, is seeking a fourth term against Greg Garrison, who hosted a conservative talk show in Indianapolis for 20 years.

Buckingham has not had a primary opponent since his first run for office and Garrison is a first-time candidate. But Garrison’s name recognition and connections in GOP politics is likely to result in a rarity in local campaigns: a challenger who raises more funds than a long-serving incumbent.

An indication of that possibility will be evident Wednesday, when former Vice President Mike Pence hosts a fundraiser at Lucas Estate in Carmel with top tickets going for $5,000. Garrison and Pence have been friends for at least 25 years, when Pence was ending his own tenure as a radio show host as Garrison slid into his spot.

Buckingham, who has never had a general election opponent and just one primary foe, said he doesn’t have a campaign manager and is raising money for the first time since the 2010 primary, collecting about $10,000, so far.

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“I guess I’m running an old school campaign,” Buckingham, said. “I still have some signs from 2009, which I dug out, and bought about 2,500 more.”

Buckingham worked as a deputy prosecutor for 15 years before running for the top job and said he will rely on his record to vouch for his effectiveness.

“We have the safest cities in the entire state," he said.

He cites a drug court, a sexual assault team and domestic violence task forces in the prosecutor’s office among his accomplishments, as well as a high conviction rate for murders.

Buckingham said his office was the first to convict a drug supplier in an overdose death after a new state law was passed in 2018. Justin Yeary was convicted for the death Tyler Humphrey in Noblesville. The Court of Appeals of Indiana reversed the decision April 7, concluding the trial court erred in its jury instructions and that text messages sent by Yeary that could have helped his defense should have been admitted. Buckingham said his office would meet with the Indiana Attorney General's to determine if it would appeal the ruling or if the prosecutor would re-try Yeary.

Buckingham's convictions haven't deterred Garrison, who has a formidable record as a deputy prosecutor in Marion County, from attacking Buckingham’s record on crime. Garrison led the prosecution of Mike Tyson for rape in the 1990s and in meet-and-greets with voters has highlighted a handful of cases Buckingham has allegedly neglected to prosecute. His campaign signs declare the county “Safer with Greg Garrison.”

Buckingham said Garrison blames him for not prosecuting a man who killed his 74-year-old aunt in 2011. But the body of victim Dorothy Heard was discovered in Grant County a year after she was reported missing in Noblesville and the prosecutors there handled the conviction of Donald Burns, then 49, Buckingham said.

Garrison also accuses Buckingham of neglecting to prosecute a woman and her son involved in a botched scheme to murder an attorney trying to collect money from her boyfriend in 2015. Buckingham said the convoluted conspiracy by Renee and Richard Perillo crossed state lines and was prosecuted by the federal government.

Garrison has declined interviews with the IndyStar and said he will continue to do so through the campaign. His campaign manager did not respond to a request to provide more specifics on the cases Garrison highlights in the forum. Garrison's campaign website sparsely lists his background and says murders, rapes, child molestations and assaults of police go unpunished in Hamilton County, without elaboration.

Buckingham said he was optimistic that convincing voters they live in a high crime suburb would be a tough sell.

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“I don’t know where my opponent has been,” Buckingham said, “Maybe he’s spent too much time in Marion County.”

Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville and Westfield combined reported 141 violent crimes in 2020, according to FBI data, and the suburbs are routinely listed by publications as among the safest in the state. Indianapolis reported 6,846 violent crimes in 2020.

Buckingham is a career prosecutor who graduated from Loyola University in Chicago and gained his law degree from Indiana University School of Law. He lives in Fishers but keeps his basic family information private because of threats he receives.

Garrison was assigned to the team prosecuting Tyson in a high-profile case that sent the heavyweight champion to prison for the rape of Black Miss America contestant Desiree Washington at the Canterbury Hotel.

The publicity Garrison gained in the case led to a job briefly as a legal analyst for CBS News and then a radio show. In 1997, Garrison’s show switched from Emmis Communications’ WIBC to its Network Indiana, where he took over the slot for a show hosted by Pence, who was quitting to run for congress.

Garrison and Pence have remained close friends and often go horseback riding together, including once when Pence was a Vice President candidate, according to an interview Garrison did with Indianapolis Monthly in 2017.

Garrison was linked to a fight with a Lockerbie Square resident after someone fitting his description pulled out a “Pence Must Go” lawn sign in 2015 when Pence was governor. The resident said the man sped away in an SUV with plates that police matched to a vehicle owned by Garrison.

The complainant never pursued charges against Garrison or positively identified him and Garrison has never commented on the incident.

Garrison stepped away from his own show, “Garrison,” in 2017 and lives on a ranch in Fishers.

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Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Mario Massillamany said Garrison entry in the primary “has shaken up the race.”

“People are talking about it because of the statewide and national recognition he has,” Massillamany said. He said older voters who remember Garrison from the Tyson trial and his radio show would probably lean toward him.

The county GOP is staying neutral in the race, a reflection of the split backing among local officials, Massillamany said.

“In my discussions with them they say stay out of this one,” said Massillamany, who worked with Buckingham in the prosecutor’s office for three years but not faces off against him as a criminal defense attorney.

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The local police organizations are also split, he said. The Fishers Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Garrison, the sheriff’s FOP is neutral, and the Carmel and Noblesville FOP backed Buckingham.

“We are just excited to have two qualified candidates,” Massillamany said.

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: Pence-backed Greg Garrison upends Hamilton County GOP prosecutor race