On September 3, the Patriot Front marched in downtown Indianapolis. Destiny Wells, our Democratic candidate for Secretary of State, happened to be nearby. She had this to say:
I heard there were 30 cosplaying racists down the street earlier today, while there were hundreds of pro-union folks a block away celebrating LaborFest. This is literally fascism versus democracy. The choice isn’t hard. #VoteBlueIn2022
Here’s the story with video from WISH-TV.
Brendan Bow shot the featured video. His quote in the story:
Frankly, I think it’s embarrassing were still dealing with these issues. Having armed people in the streets trying to intimidate minorities and trying to intimidate people around them, too scared to even show their face, I think it’s a level of cowardice and backwardness that shouldn’t be there.
Republicans hold a super majority in the state legislature. The governor is Republican. The most recent redistricting is a textbook example of gerrymandering. Up here in Northwest Indiana, IN-01 has been solid [D] for years, but this year, a hardline antiabortionist is too close in the polls for comfort. Incumbent Rep. Frank Mrvan [D] seems to lead in the polls, but just barely. Turnout in Indiana consistently scrapes the bottom.
I’m writing from LaPorte County. In the 2020, we elected a County Commissioner, Joe Haney. As of July 2021, his own company’s web site declared:
Joe is the President and Founder of 13C [named after our 13 original colonies apparently]. As an Oath Keeper Joe is known for his staunch, unwavering defense of Liberty and the Constitution.
As a Commissioner, he’s been an obstructionist. But this is one of those local rabbit holes. I’ll not waste our bandwidth with the details.
So, yeah, Kossacks: Indiana is way behind the curve, obviously. But as Destiny Wells says,
Indiana Is a Purple State With a Turnout Problem
After all, we voted for Obama in 2008. An NYT story wrote:
Barack Obama may owe his narrow win in Indiana to good old-fashioned get-out-the-vote work. Exit polls show that nearly a quarter of voters questioned said they had been contacted by the Obama campaign about coming out to vote, compared with 8 percent for the McCain campaign.
By the way, not long ago, tragedy stuck. Rep. Jackie Walorski [R] died in a car crash. I considered her a shoe-in for IN-02. LaPorte County includes portions of IN-01 and IN-02. She was a solid anti-abortion MAGA Republican. Our [R] Governor and a Republican Caucus installed Some Guy from her campaign to fill the slot. Our [D] candidate for IN-02 is Paul Steury. Back in our Spring Primary, he had the courage to file for IN-02 and won. I’ve met him. I like him. He’s a STEM guy.
Finally, Tom McDermott is waging a great campaign against Indiana Senator Todd Young (NRA poster boy.) Our State Party recently shared a favorable poll showing Tom coming up strong. We also have great [D] candidates for State Treasurer and State Auditor.
In recent elections, our County-level Democratic Party was pretty much comatose. Earlier this year, we reformed with revitalized leadership. We’re in much better shape. We have a strong slate at the County level. In IN-01, our ground game is already working harder and earlier than I remember since the Obama campaigns, at least in IN-01. IN-02 is another story. Paul needs some help.
OK, Kossacks—you know what to do. ActBlue links follow:
