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Speaker 2: information call eight one, two, four four three three zero

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Speaker 2: zero three State House Happenings. Also wants to thank our

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Speaker 2: fine friends at Freedom Foods Indiana. Farmer Ryan Schleiman and

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Speaker 2: the folks at Freedom Foods Indiana have been delivering fresh

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Speaker 2: fruits and vegetables right to people's doors for years, and

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Speaker 2: Freedom Foods Indiana is a big supporter of State House Happenings.

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Speaker 2: Now Freedom Foods Indiana has some big things coming. We

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Speaker 2: can't wait to tell you all about it in the

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Speaker 2: near future. Right now, though, we just want to say

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Speaker 2: thanks to our friends at Freedom Foods Indiana for supporting

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Speaker 2: State House Happenings. So is Indiana ready for something different?

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Speaker 2: Our guest today says perhaps, and there's polling to back

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Speaker 2: it up.

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Speaker 3: It is State House Happening.

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Speaker 2: It's your weekly look at what's going on with Indiana

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Speaker 2: politics and government. Our award winning panel of Jim Merritt Abdula,

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Speaker 2: Keepshabaz taking the week off for Christmas, and in their place,

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Speaker 2: we have something special for you. Nathan Gotch joining us.

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Speaker 2: He is the executive director of Independent Indiana. They're a

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Speaker 2: newish group formed with the idea of saying, hey, a

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Speaker 2: lot of the electric is not a Republican or Democrat.

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Speaker 2: They're certainly not wed to either side. Let's make our

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Speaker 2: election start reflecting that. He joins us.

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Speaker 3: Now, Nathan, Hello, Hey, great to be here, Rob, Thanks

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Speaker 3: for having me.

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Speaker 2: All right, So we've had you on our Kennel and

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Speaker 2: Casey program multiple times talking about Independent Indiana before we

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Speaker 2: get into this new polling that you guys have out

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Speaker 2: because you guys pulled on redistricting and I thought it

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Speaker 2: was very reflective of where no the electorate was, but

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Speaker 2: where the politicians ended up being. Tell us a little

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Speaker 2: bit about Independent Indiana.

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Speaker 3: So we are an organization that was formed just in

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Speaker 3: the past year, and we formed because we started hearing

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Speaker 3: from people all around the state that they weren't happy

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Speaker 3: with their choices and the elections that they're voting. And

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Speaker 3: the reality is in most places in the state of Indiana,

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Speaker 3: when people are voting in a general election in November,

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Speaker 3: they really don't have a choice. There's one party that dominates,

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Speaker 3: and most of the state is the Republican Party. In

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Speaker 3: places like Indianapolis, it's the Democratic Party. And what we

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Speaker 3: actually discovered is there were a lot of people who

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Speaker 3: have started running as independents. In fact, I talked to

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Speaker 3: a former Republican state chair. Because I started seeing this

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Speaker 3: in the data, I went back and I looked background.

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Speaker 3: Tell people about your background. I'm from Fort Wayne, born

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Speaker 3: and raised there, and was very interested in politics growing up.

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Speaker 3: In fact, when I was a sophomore, on my high

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Speaker 3: school newspaper, I heard that dan Quayle was going to

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Speaker 3: be announcing his campaign for president back in nineteen ninety

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Speaker 3: nine down at Huntington, which wasn't too far away, about

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Speaker 3: half an hour. And so somehow, I don't remember how

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Speaker 3: I did this because this was sort of early days

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Speaker 3: of the internet. I contacted the campaign and got a

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Speaker 3: press pass, and so I was this sixteen year old

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Speaker 3: kid sitting in the bullpen next to somebody from the

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Speaker 3: New York Times and from CNN, and I will never

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Speaker 3: forget the shock of getting the packet from the media

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Speaker 3: people and inside this is before the event, and the

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Speaker 3: entire speech that dan Quayle was going to give is

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Speaker 3: in this packet, And I thought, wait a minute, you

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Speaker 3: just give this to the report like they know this

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Speaker 3: in advance. I thought we were supposed to like scribble

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Speaker 3: everything down in our notebooks. But anyway, so I've always

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Speaker 3: been interested in politics, and I ran as an independent

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Speaker 3: for Congress in twenty twenty two up in the third

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Speaker 3: District Northeast Indiana. And so I was looking at all

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Speaker 3: the election returns the last two cycles twenty three and

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Speaker 3: twenty four, and I started seeing these independents running. But

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Speaker 3: because I'd run as an independent myself, I thought, well,

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Speaker 3: maybe I'm like reading into the data because of my

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Speaker 3: own personal experience. So I reached out to a former

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Speaker 3: Republican state chair and I said, what number of independents

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Speaker 3: running the last two cycles for partisan races would signal

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Speaker 3: something to you as happening. This person said, well, if

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Speaker 3: as many as fifty got on the ballot, that would

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Speaker 3: surprise me. Rob it was two hundred and forty four.

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Speaker 3: Two and forty four people running. Is independence statewide in

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Speaker 3: Indiana in any race statewide? Now? Now, this chair said, wow,

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Speaker 3: that's that's really surprising. But how many of them won?

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Speaker 3: Because it's one thing to get on the ballot, right,

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Speaker 3: I got on the ballot and I didn't win. That's

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Speaker 3: why I'm sitting here talking to you right now. Right,

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Speaker 3: So I asked, nobody does this of their own. That's

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Speaker 3: not true. You do have people, You got a lot

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Speaker 3: of people on your show, maybe maybe not on the podcast.

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Speaker 3: But so this person said, well, how many of them

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Speaker 3: actually won? Because it is a it's a hard thing

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Speaker 3: for an independent to win. And so I asked them,

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Speaker 3: I said, what's your guest. What percentage of those two

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Speaker 3: forty forty you think one? Their guest was five percent.

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Speaker 3: The actual number is fifty two percent.

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Speaker 2: Wait. Wait, of the two or forty people who ran

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Speaker 2: as independence, over half of them, one over half of

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Speaker 2: them went and fascinating.

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Speaker 3: And we did, we did an analysis of every race

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Speaker 3: those last two years, every single candidate in general election,

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Speaker 3: and we found that the success rate for Independence again

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Speaker 3: fifty two percent, compared very favorably to the other two parties.

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Speaker 3: So Republican success rate during that period sixty one percent.

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Speaker 3: Democratic success rate during that period thirty five percent. So

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Speaker 3: Independence were actually more successful than Democrats and not too

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Speaker 3: far off from Republicans. We're talking about people who were

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Speaker 3: nominees of the party on the general election ballot in November.

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Speaker 2: So that's okay, that's fascinating. So if you're just tuning

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Speaker 2: in state else happenings. And Nathan Gotch is our guest today,

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Speaker 2: our panel. We'll be back next week to wrap up

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty five Preview twenty twenty six. We're talking about

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Speaker 2: his group Independent Indiana and their commitment to trying to

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Speaker 2: get more independent candidates elected in our state. So that's

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Speaker 2: the background of who you guys are. And look, I

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Speaker 2: will say this, I became aware of you guys.

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Speaker 3: I think you formed or launched in September.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's kind of said twenty four is that right?

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Speaker 2: Or twenty five? Just a few months?

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Speaker 3: Is that all it's been? Remember when you guys were

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Speaker 3: going to launch and I said, well, I hope they

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Speaker 3: do well.

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Speaker 2: I just think it's really hard to get into people

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Speaker 2: to not vote. They're perceived what's been drilled into their

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Speaker 2: head for years of Republican Democrat because oh, the Independent,

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Speaker 2: that's just a wasted.

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Speaker 3: Voter, right. People think of them as spoilers exactly.

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Speaker 2: And you guys, and really the past several months, for

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Speaker 2: or five months, have done a really nice job of

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Speaker 2: getting your name out there and exposure, and it's it

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Speaker 2: seems like you guys are not just some fly by

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Speaker 2: night operation that you are pretty well funded. I assume

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Speaker 2: you're not like running this thing as a tax right off,

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Speaker 2: And you guys are actually like dedicated to Hey, we're

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Speaker 2: here for the long haul to get these independent candidates elected.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. So, you know, as I was saying, those independents

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Speaker 3: running and winning, which was surprising to literally everyone, right,

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Speaker 3: I started reaching out to them to find out who

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Speaker 3: they were. And I think in the past, we have

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Speaker 3: just thought of independence as people who are kind of

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Speaker 3: so so wacky that they couldn't get nominated as a

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Speaker 3: Republican or Democrat. Yeah, but as our politics have really

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Speaker 3: changed over the past ten years, that has changed as well.

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Speaker 3: And we're seeing I mean, former Republican elected officials who

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Speaker 3: are now running and winning as independents in their communities,

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Speaker 3: really high quality people. And one of the things that

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Speaker 3: they all have in common is a real sense of

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Speaker 3: integrity and humility. You know, these are people who are

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Speaker 3: in it for the public service and integrity and humility.

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Speaker 3: I'm out, yes, sorry, So maybe you wouldn't qualify rob,

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Speaker 3: but these these people, they certainly do. And you know,

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Speaker 3: I had one person say to me, look, if I

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Speaker 3: was doing this for my ego, I'd be running as

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Speaker 3: a Republican. It's so much easier. But I don't want

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Speaker 3: to have to do what the party tells me. To do.

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Speaker 3: I want to I want to govern, I want to

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Speaker 3: legislate in the case of some of these people who

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Speaker 3: are you know, on city and town councils, and the

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Speaker 3: way that I think is in the best interest of

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Speaker 3: my constituents, not some party boss telling me what to do.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So let's talk a little bit about this poll,

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Speaker 2: because you guys actually made news. What this has been

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Speaker 2: a month ago or so. You were one of the

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Speaker 2: groups that did in depth polling on redistricting, and you

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Speaker 2: were one of the first groups, in fact to come

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Speaker 2: out with polling on redistricting. And you guys basically said,

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Speaker 2: the public does it. The polling results and he used

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Speaker 2: a Republican based pollster.

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Speaker 3: Right, is a Republican pollster out of DC who polls

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Speaker 3: for the Republican National Committee. Right, these are not numbers

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Speaker 3: that are that are skewed in one direction or the other.

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Speaker 2: And your polling basically said, what we came to know

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Speaker 2: is that the public didn't want it. Republicans, even inside

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Speaker 2: the Republican Party, people weren't you know, just begging for it,

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Speaker 2: even people who were for it. You did polling on

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Speaker 2: the statewide office holders Braun and Diego and Micah and

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Speaker 2: they those guys were all underwater. The case of Diego

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Speaker 2: and Micah, we.

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Speaker 3: Didn't pull Micah, but we did pull Braun and we

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Speaker 3: pulled Diego, and they were both unpopular.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and in the case of Diego, it was the

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Speaker 2: other group that did that, did Micah. You guys did

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Speaker 2: Diego and Braun. Most people don't know who Diego was,

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Speaker 2: and the people who knew who he was they So anyway,

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Speaker 2: you guys made a lot of news out of that,

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Speaker 2: and now you have another poll out talking about how

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Speaker 2: people feel about voting in the state of Indiana. Our

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Speaker 2: friends that Indiana Capitol Chronicle did a big write up

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Speaker 2: for you guys, and sort of the takeaway here the

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Speaker 2: headline really was the idea of straight ticket voting or

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Speaker 2: you can just go in there and you can just say,

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Speaker 2: I'm not going to vote for anybody. I just want

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Speaker 2: to press a button and all the Republicans I'll vote for,

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Speaker 2: all the Democrats will vote for. And your polling shows

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Speaker 2: that people are overwhelmingly kind of against straight ticket voting

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Speaker 2: in Indiana.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. So this polling was done as a part of

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Speaker 3: a study that we put together. So, as you mentioned,

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Speaker 3: we launched in September, and pretty quickly we realized, Okay,

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Speaker 3: we need to dig in a little bit deep here.

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Speaker 3: We need to find out if these independents who are

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Speaker 3: winning around the state for mayors, for city council clerk

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Speaker 3: treasure and then the people who are running for larger

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Speaker 3: offices like county wide races. A couple have run for

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Speaker 3: state legislature and a lot of those who lost. So

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Speaker 3: a third of them who ran and lost got between

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Speaker 3: thirty and forty nine percent of the vote. Wow, so

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Speaker 3: we're not talking spoilers here. We're talking people who have

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Speaker 3: are putting together real campaigns and clearly have the support

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Speaker 3: of a lot of people in their communities. We wanted

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Speaker 3: to study, Okay, what is it going to take for

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Speaker 3: Indiana to have competitive general elections again? You know, people

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Speaker 3: inside politics will privately say, you know what, our parties

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Speaker 3: better when we have to earn it. Now, no individual

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Speaker 3: candidate wants to have a challenge. No wait, wait, wait,

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Speaker 3: wait wait.

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Speaker 2: I say this in the radio every day, and that's

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Speaker 2: why I say, you can't give stuff to the Republicans

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Speaker 2: because they'll blow it. And people call me every name

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Speaker 2: under the sun. You're saying that your analysis shows exactly

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Speaker 2: what I've been saying, which is people do better govern

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Speaker 2: when they have a threat of losing their offer.

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Speaker 3: Not only that. So there's a whole section in this

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Speaker 3: study where we talked to Republican and Democratic elected officials,

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Speaker 3: including a current state legislator from both parties, who went

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Speaker 3: off the record with us in exchange for their candor,

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Speaker 3: and they say in the study you can go and

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Speaker 3: read it. Go to Independent Indiana dot org and download

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Speaker 3: the study yourself. You can hear them in this study.

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Speaker 3: They talk about how the supermajority is not good. That's

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Speaker 3: what the Republican state legislator says. The Democratic state legislator said,

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Speaker 3: We're in such bad shape. We're the Internet explorer of

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Speaker 3: political parties. I mean, these comments were were very very colorful,

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Speaker 3: to say the least. And so the reality is, you know,

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Speaker 3: when we talk about our of capitalism here right, a

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Speaker 3: free market economy, competition is good. The reality is that's

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Speaker 3: also true in politics. What we have, though, is we

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Speaker 3: have we have elected officials who say that they are capitalists,

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Speaker 3: that they want a free market, that they want competition

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Speaker 3: three hundred and sixty four days a year on election day,

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Speaker 3: though they'd rather that you didn't have a choice when

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Speaker 3: you go into the voting booth. And the truth is,

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Speaker 3: you know, if people don't have choices, they're not really free. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: for you to have liberty, and what's the most important

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Speaker 3: choice you make, It's not what kind of toothpaste you buy, right,

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Speaker 3: it's who is going to lead your community, who's going

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Speaker 3: to represent you in the state house, who's going to

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Speaker 3: run our state, who's going to be in those executive positions.

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Speaker 3: And so what we wanted to do is really study

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Speaker 3: how we can bring back that choice for people. And

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Speaker 3: we started with these independents who are running and winning,

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Speaker 3: and what would it take to make it easier for

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Speaker 3: them to be more successful as the races get bigger.

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Speaker 3: That's really what the study examined. One of the most.

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Speaker 2: and medium sized weddings and events, giving you the opportunity

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Speaker 2: friends at Freedom Foods Indiana. Farmer Ryan Schliman and the

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Speaker 2: folks at Freedom Foods Indiana have been delivering fresh fruits

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Speaker 2: and vegetables right to people's doors for years and Freedom

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Speaker 2: Foods Indiana is a big supporter of State House happenings. Now,

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Speaker 2: Freedom Foods Indiana has some big things coming.

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Speaker 3: We can't wait to.

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Speaker 2: Tell you all about it in the near future. Right now, though,

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Speaker 2: we just want to say thanks to our friends at

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Speaker 2: Freedom Foods Indiana for supporting State House Happenings. Nathan Gotch

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Speaker 2: is our guest this week on State House Happenings. He's

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Speaker 2: with Independent Indiana and we're talking about the growing trend

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Speaker 2: of independence running for public office and then some cases winning.

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Speaker 2: There was some interesting data that came out in this

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Speaker 2: Indiana Capital Chronicle article that, look, if I were running

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Speaker 2: as an independent for a larger office, I would look

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Speaker 2: at this. I saw just even Tury to do an

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Speaker 2: interview years ago where he talked about all the people

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Speaker 2: that came out and voted for him in Minnesota when

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Speaker 2: he ran for governor who didn't otherwise vote, and he

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Speaker 2: was talking about this was I think twenty fifteen he

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Speaker 2: did this interview and he was talking about what he

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Speaker 2: run for president. He does that every four years to

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Speaker 2: get publicity. But he was talking about the idea of

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Speaker 2: potential customers. He referred to voters as customers, and he said,

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Speaker 2: all these people don't vote are my potential customers, and

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Speaker 2: if I can get them, it's a freebie because they're

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Speaker 2: the people that other people aren't getting.

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Speaker 3: Always thought that would be the way you do it.

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Speaker 2: And this seventeen percent of Indiana registered voters cast ballots

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Speaker 2: in the primaries, thirteen percent on the Republican side, four

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Speaker 2: percent of the Democrat side. That means you got a

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Speaker 2: lot of people who aren't passionate about the party system.

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Speaker 3: That is true, but that's what we see. It's not

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Speaker 3: just in Indiana, it's across the country. The primary electorate

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Speaker 3: is always a smaller sample size. These people are more

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Speaker 3: passionate politically, and oftentimes that means that a good percentage

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Speaker 3: of them have what I would characterize is maybe a

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Speaker 3: little bit more radical in terms of their views. And

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Speaker 3: so what happens when the primaries become the determining election.

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Speaker 3: The people who are running for office understand that and

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Speaker 3: they go, oh, I need to make those primary voters happy.

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Speaker 3: I need them to like me. It doesn't matter if

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Speaker 3: I appeal to the majority of my constituents or not.

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Speaker 3: I need to win the primary. If all I care

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Speaker 3: about is winning a primary, I'm going to legislate for

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Speaker 3: that thirteen percent of voters. And I think you've seen

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Speaker 3: over the past few cycles, you know, the legislation coming

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Speaker 3: out of the state House. It is skewed more towards

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Speaker 3: what Republican primary voters want. And we did a full

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Speaker 3: issue panel where we ask people what is very important

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Speaker 3: to you when you vote in state and local elections,

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Speaker 3: and the number one issue was government corruption and transparency.

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Speaker 2: Don't say that again because I think that's so important.

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Speaker 3: I mean, this is It's almost as if Rob Kendall

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Speaker 3: was the only one who we pulled. But I can

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Speaker 3: garret that's not We we six hundred and four people

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Speaker 3: as a representative sample size of the state, mostly by phone.

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Speaker 3: Number one issue very important eighty eight percent of who's

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Speaker 3: your voters reducing government corruption and increasing transparency.

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Speaker 2: And this is why I'm like with the Democrats, and

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Speaker 2: I've said this for a while that if you guys

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Speaker 2: could those guys could just get their act together and

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Speaker 2: just like run normal people and run around like the

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Speaker 2: issues are so obvious. It's utility bills, it's property taxes,

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Speaker 2: and then the big one is this government corruption through

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Speaker 2: things like the IEDC.

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Speaker 3: It's like it's just rights itself.

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Speaker 2: Just run normal people and run on this and you'll

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Speaker 2: start winning elections.

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Speaker 3: Well, you need to read that section in the study

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Speaker 3: where the Democrat explains why they haven't been able to

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Speaker 3: get their act together. And then the other thing is

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Speaker 3: when we pulled people on how they feel about the

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Speaker 3: Republican and Democratic parties in Indiana, the state Democratic Party

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Speaker 3: the Republican State Party, only thirty three percent said they

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Speaker 3: had a favorable opinion of the Republican Party. Only twenty

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Speaker 3: five percent said they had a favorable opinion of the

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Speaker 3: Indiana Democratic Party.

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Speaker 2: So think about So, what you're saying is basically they're

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Speaker 2: any other Republican party. And your survey done by Republican posters,

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Speaker 2: by the way, is minus twelve. The Democrats are essentially

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Speaker 2: minus eighteen. Think about all the Again, a guy like

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Speaker 2: me looks at this and goes all the potential customers

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Speaker 2: that are out of there, out there, and all you

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Speaker 2: got to do is just look elections. If everybody's equal

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Speaker 2: in terms of like or not equal but somewhat equal

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Speaker 2: in terms of being competitive with money and exposure or whatever,

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Speaker 2: it becomes a battle of ideas and it's just a

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Speaker 2: doorhannger election. Hey, here's the four things we're putting on

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Speaker 2: a doorhannger, and we're not getting off these four things.

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Speaker 2: And I certainly could see a world based on this

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Speaker 2: where they properly funded independent could swoop in and at

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Speaker 2: least do major damage in a statewide election, if not

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Speaker 2: win the thing.

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Speaker 3: So we asked, who's your voters, if there was an

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Speaker 3: independent candidate for office on the ballot that you agreed

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Speaker 3: with on most issues and thought they had a chance

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Speaker 3: to win, how likely would you be to vote for

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Speaker 3: that person? Oh, talk to me. Eighty eight percent said

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Speaker 3: they would be likely, and fifty nine percent of those

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Speaker 3: said very likely. Now that's overall. You want to know

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Speaker 3: what that number was among Republicans, Yes, eighty six percent.

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Speaker 3: People are not happy. If you're listening to this right now,

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Speaker 3: you are not alone. I know that a lot of

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Speaker 3: us feel like we're the all only ones who are

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Speaker 3: kind of walking around going gosh, I just don't feel

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Speaker 3: like the political system in Indiana cares what I think.

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Speaker 3: That You're not alone. And what we have discovered though,

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Speaker 3: in the course of doing the study is the reason

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Speaker 3: people aren't voting for independence is because of some of

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Speaker 3: these these challenges that the state of Indiana, and these

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Speaker 3: are you know, statutory things passed by Republicans and Democrats.

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Speaker 3: They put restrictions, they put guidelines, they put requirements, on

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Speaker 3: independence that they do not put on Republicans and Democrats.

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Speaker 3: If we could level the playing field, I think we

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Speaker 3: would see more independence. Creating that competition that even Mitch

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Speaker 3: Daniel said in a Washington Post column last year is

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Speaker 3: good for everyone. Okay, so let's talk about this for

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Speaker 3: a second. If you're just tuning in our program, State

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Speaker 3: House Happenings, our panel Jamarrit blue Keep supposed to be

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Speaker 3: back next week, will wrap up twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 2: Preview twenty twenty six. Nathan Gotch is our guest. He's

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Speaker 2: with Independent Indiana, and we're talking about this drive to

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Speaker 2: get more independence on the ballot and more independence elected

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Speaker 2: into public office. So let's talk about what you guys

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Speaker 2: are up against. Because if I'm a Democrat, if I'm

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Speaker 2: a Republican, if I'm a libertarian. Now libertarians nominate differently,

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Speaker 2: but the reality is they have ballot access. As long

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Speaker 2: as I win my quote unquote primary, I'm on the ballot.

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Speaker 2: There's no signature requirement other than in the case of

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Speaker 2: governor or senator. You have to go get these signatures.

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Speaker 3: But the well, hang on, so you need to get

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Speaker 3: you need to get five hundred signatures in each of

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Speaker 3: the nine Congression discs as a Republican or Democrat if

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Speaker 3: you're running for Senate or or for governor, except you

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Speaker 3: actually don't. Oh because Todd Young, oh well yeah, did

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Speaker 3: not get his signatures. Those signatures. But the Indiana Election

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Speaker 3: Commission and then we talk about this in the study.

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Speaker 3: It is a four panel board, two Republicans, two Democrats,

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Speaker 3: appointed by the governor at the recommendation of the party chair.

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Speaker 3: So basically the party chairs put them there. This panel

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Speaker 3: can only take action if there are three votes yes.

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Speaker 3: So when you have a split decision, yes, there is

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Speaker 3: no action. And so when Todd Young did not get

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Speaker 3: the five hundred signatures he needed I think Northwest Indiana. Yes,

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Speaker 3: the Republicans said no, we think he did somehow, and

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Speaker 3: so because you needed three votes for them to take action,

435
00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:20,200
Speaker 3: he stayed on the ballot. Oh yeah, Oh, I remember

436
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:21,920
Speaker 3: I was working for Marlin Stuts. When it's time, I

437
00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:22,280
Speaker 3: remember that.

438
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:25,840
Speaker 2: I remember there are in the Rob Kendall origin story, Nathan,

439
00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,480
Speaker 2: there are certain events that made me I was like,

440
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,200
Speaker 2: you know, a normal person. And then Peter Parker gets

441
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:32,120
Speaker 2: bit by the spider.

442
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:32,560
Speaker 1: Like.

443
00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:34,920
Speaker 2: There are certain events and that was one of the

444
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,800
Speaker 2: Rob Kendall Origin moments where I said, this system is

445
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,320
Speaker 2: so corrupt, like I got to get back into radio

446
00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,959
Speaker 2: because no one individual can possibly could possibly beat the system.

447
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:50,480
Speaker 3: Okay, so, but my point is so, so independents have

448
00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:52,960
Speaker 3: to get signatures, and it depends on the side of

449
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,320
Speaker 3: the race. But the way that they calculate the number

450
00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:00,360
Speaker 3: is whatever in your district that you're running. So you're

451
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,800
Speaker 3: running for mayor, the previous secretary of state, however many

452
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,040
Speaker 3: votes were cast in that city that you want to

453
00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:09,440
Speaker 3: run for mayor, as two percent of that number is

454
00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,760
Speaker 3: how many signatures you need. So in a state house district,

455
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,960
Speaker 3: maybe it's a couple hundred, maybe a state Senate seat

456
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:19,400
Speaker 3: is closer to one thousand. When you run for Congress,

457
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:23,359
Speaker 3: it's around five thousand. That's a little bit higher than

458
00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:25,480
Speaker 3: what the Republican or Democrat would need to run in

459
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,639
Speaker 3: that race. They only need one signature their own on

460
00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:32,760
Speaker 3: their filing form. But there are signature requirements as we

461
00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:35,680
Speaker 3: just talked about for Republicans running for US Senate and

462
00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:39,080
Speaker 3: for governor. But the signature requirement for an independent for

463
00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,520
Speaker 3: state wide rais eight times that number. We're talking thirty

464
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,280
Speaker 3: six thousand signatures and that.

465
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:49,680
Speaker 2: Is to run for like any state wide governor, secretary,

466
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:52,440
Speaker 2: state treasurer, if you wanted to be auditor and you

467
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:54,480
Speaker 2: really had a passion for it, Yeah, you got to

468
00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:56,440
Speaker 2: collect those signatures and that requires you to hire a

469
00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:57,639
Speaker 2: firm to help you.

470
00:22:57,800 --> 00:22:59,960
Speaker 3: And you're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars.

471
00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:01,840
Speaker 2: To ask you, like, you can't just go sit outside

472
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:03,960
Speaker 2: of Walmart and get these signers going to be verified.

473
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:05,160
Speaker 3: You get pros. You know what they're doing.

474
00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,439
Speaker 2: So you're talking about the barrier to access as an

475
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,000
Speaker 2: independent for statewide office, even to get on the ballot

476
00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:11,399
Speaker 2: is hundreds of thousands.

477
00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:13,440
Speaker 3: You have to buy your way out of the ballot

478
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:16,160
Speaker 3: in Indiana if you are not running as a Republican

479
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:18,480
Speaker 3: or Democrat. But remember we have a two primary rule.

480
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:21,480
Speaker 3: If you haven't voted in your last two primaries for

481
00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:23,040
Speaker 3: whatever party you want to run in and again that's

482
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:24,359
Speaker 3: a couple of years it's going to take. Right, So

483
00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:27,000
Speaker 3: let's say you want to run for office in twenty

484
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:31,080
Speaker 3: twenty eight. Right now you have to think, okay, well,

485
00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,160
Speaker 3: I need to vote in the right primary in twenty

486
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:36,800
Speaker 3: six and in twenty seven. If I live in a place,

487
00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:39,240
Speaker 3: if I live in a city limit. If I don't,

488
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:41,600
Speaker 3: I got to wait another two years, and which party

489
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:46,040
Speaker 3: is going to best represent me in two or three years?

490
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,359
Speaker 3: Like that's the way that the system is. And based

491
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:52,040
Speaker 3: on our very conservative estimate, eighty one percent of Hoosiers

492
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:54,720
Speaker 3: would not qualify to run as either a Republican or

493
00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:55,800
Speaker 3: a Democrat right now.

494
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,720
Speaker 2: Right, Okay, So let's get to the nitty gritty on this.

495
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,119
Speaker 2: If I could raise ten million dollars, I could be

496
00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:05,320
Speaker 2: the governor, couldn't I? If I get ten million dollars,

497
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:07,560
Speaker 2: that's the number I put out there.

498
00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,760
Speaker 3: I as I'm independent, You're you're gonna have to spend

499
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:12,480
Speaker 3: a big chunk of that on getting the signatures.

500
00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:14,800
Speaker 2: Let's just say let's just say it's a half mill right, okay,

501
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:16,800
Speaker 2: Because you guys would help me if I if I

502
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:19,679
Speaker 2: came and said here's ten mil, you guys are going

503
00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:20,320
Speaker 2: to do some work.

504
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:21,520
Speaker 3: Four.

505
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,720
Speaker 2: So we can't coordinate directly the signatures with me, right,

506
00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:25,640
Speaker 2: We're gonna go door to door.

507
00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:27,400
Speaker 3: We can do probably ten of those on our own.

508
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:32,919
Speaker 3: I can recommend some signature firms that are reputable. I mean,

509
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:35,560
Speaker 3: but look, let's go back to it. So, so we asked,

510
00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:37,600
Speaker 3: who's your voters, do you think that the signature requirement

511
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:41,760
Speaker 3: is fair? Not surprisingly, sixty seven percent said no. Fifty

512
00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:43,879
Speaker 3: six percent of Republicans no, unfair.

513
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:45,800
Speaker 2: But the legislatre is not gonna change that because that's

514
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:49,239
Speaker 2: their barrier to access and they depend upon barrier to access. Uh.

515
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:52,040
Speaker 3: You know, I think after what we saw with through districting,

516
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,000
Speaker 3: anything as possible. The other thing, though, the challenge for

517
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,080
Speaker 3: you would be straight ticket voting. So if you're gonna

518
00:24:57,119 --> 00:24:59,840
Speaker 3: run as an independent, the state, the Secretary of State's

519
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:01,760
Speaker 3: off this is actually not keep track of how many

520
00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 3: straight ticket votes are cast overall in the state. It

521
00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:06,439
Speaker 3: was on top of everything, Nathan. You know, I think

522
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:08,560
Speaker 3: when he's doing his ninety two county tour, he must

523
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 3: be forgetting to collect that information from those county election boards.

524
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,680
Speaker 3: But we did just an analysis of the top five counties,

525
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,920
Speaker 3: and in the last election cycle, over fifty percent of

526
00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:22,359
Speaker 3: people cast straight ticket votes. And that's that's despite the

527
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:24,399
Speaker 3: fact we're one of only six states that still has

528
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,000
Speaker 3: crazy straight ticket voting. If you're that lazy, you should

529
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,359
Speaker 3: not be voting. I'm sorry, Like, if you're that lazy

530
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,080
Speaker 3: that you can't just it takes two minutes. Well, here's

531
00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:34,639
Speaker 3: the problem. I you and I have different perspectives on this.

532
00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:36,800
Speaker 3: I don't. I'm not going to criticize people for making

533
00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:39,280
Speaker 3: that choice. It's available to them. But the problem is

534
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 3: a lot of people don't realize if they want to

535
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,119
Speaker 3: vote for an independent, if they vote straight ticket, they

536
00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,639
Speaker 3: can't when the schooloard races. Well that's that's the other

537
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,479
Speaker 3: thing that's coming up. So we've talked to Independent Canadas

538
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:50,959
Speaker 3: who got calls after the election from people who were

539
00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:52,840
Speaker 3: their supporters saying, hey, I think I voted for you.

540
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:56,840
Speaker 3: I voted straight ticket Republican. Those don't count. Those votes

541
00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:58,960
Speaker 3: don't count. The other thing is, to your point about

542
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,879
Speaker 3: school board races, now that they partisanize those, there are

543
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,680
Speaker 3: going to be Republican school board candidates who lose votes

544
00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:07,640
Speaker 3: because people go in and vote straight ticket, but those

545
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,960
Speaker 3: votes don't count in those sensibly like an at large race.

546
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,240
Speaker 3: So there could be an undervote on Republican school board

547
00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,880
Speaker 3: candidates and they could lose races because we have straight

548
00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:19,199
Speaker 3: ticket voting in this Stay all right, we.

549
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,840
Speaker 2: Got about a minute and a half left here. Let's

550
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:24,719
Speaker 2: say let's say it costs five hundred thousand to get

551
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:25,280
Speaker 2: on the ballot, is.

552
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:25,960
Speaker 3: That a fair estimate.

553
00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:28,800
Speaker 2: I think that's that's maybe a little conservative, but around there. Yeah, Okay,

554
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,080
Speaker 2: let's say it's five hundred large. I got nine point

555
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,760
Speaker 2: five mill. Let's say cand raise ten mil. You could

556
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:35,639
Speaker 2: do that, right, I mean that whatever, whatever, there's what

557
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:37,560
Speaker 2: I would say, be a multiplyer of ten because I

558
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:38,440
Speaker 2: get so much earned media.

559
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:42,200
Speaker 3: The right candidate with the right message, who is well resourced,

560
00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:45,040
Speaker 3: I think would have a chance. But again, we're talking

561
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:46,920
Speaker 3: about you saying you have to have ten million dollars.

562
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:48,480
Speaker 3: There's not a lot of people in the state who

563
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:51,159
Speaker 3: can do that. Our system was not designed for you

564
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,040
Speaker 3: to need ten million dollars to run for office. This

565
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:56,520
Speaker 3: is how screwed up things are. But that's why the study. Again,

566
00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,520
Speaker 3: please go downloaded Independent Indiana dot org. But we have

567
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 3: three recommendations. We want to try to work with the

568
00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:04,359
Speaker 3: legislator Leacher to get rid of straight ticket voting. We

569
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:06,560
Speaker 3: want to return the signature requirements to what they were

570
00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:09,200
Speaker 3: pre nineteen eighty. There's a whole backstory about how one

571
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,320
Speaker 3: political vendetta in Michigan City, Indiana in nineteen eighty is

572
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:14,720
Speaker 3: why the signature requirements are so high. And then we

573
00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:18,280
Speaker 3: also are working to create an infrastructure for these independent candidates.

574
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:20,320
Speaker 3: The first step is a toolkit that we've got on

575
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:22,640
Speaker 3: our website now for people who are thinking, maybe like Rob,

576
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,040
Speaker 3: of running as an independent in twenty twenty six.

577
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:27,119
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm not thinking of running. I just want to

578
00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:28,680
Speaker 2: know if I raise ten million, if I could do it,

579
00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:31,639
Speaker 2: and you're an expert, I think ten million makes it

580
00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:36,480
Speaker 2: much more possible. I'm needed here, Okay, but again, Independent

581
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 2: Indiana is the website correct Independent Indiana dot org. I

582
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:41,280
Speaker 2: love what you guys are doing. I think it's phenomenal.

583
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:45,119
Speaker 2: The more people we get thinking independently away from these

584
00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,560
Speaker 2: two parties, I think the better we're going to be.

585
00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,720
Speaker 2: Your polling is fabulous. I love that Nathan gotch Thank you,

586
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:51,480
Speaker 2: thanks Rob.

587
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,960
Speaker 1: I'm doctor Jim Dalton, President and CEO of Daymar. Daymar

588
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,360
Speaker 1: is a critical resource for thousands of people in Central Indiana,

589
00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:00,680
Speaker 1: and it takes people like you to give them hope.

590
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:04,879
Speaker 1: With over thirteen hundred employees and hundreds of volunteers, Daymar

591
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Speaker 1: is always looking for people to come aboard. Whether it's

592
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Speaker 1: a career or simply donating your time. There's a place

593
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Speaker 1: for you here at Daymar. Learn more about our mission

594
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Speaker 1: at daymar dot org.

595
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:17,359
Speaker 2: At the Honeysuckle Hill bestro In Cottage located off I

596
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Speaker 2: seventy in Beautiful Brazil, less than an hour from downtown Indianapolis.

597
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 2: Their specialty is hoos your comfort food like Grandma used

598
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,440
Speaker 2: to make and just like Grandma's house. Their goal is

599
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Speaker 2: for you to leave more at peace than when you

600
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Speaker 2: came in. The Honeysuckle Hill bestro In Cottage feature some

601
00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:34,680
Speaker 2: of the best made from scratch food in the state,

602
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,560
Speaker 2: and their chicken and pork is raised right here in Indiana.

603
00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:40,280
Speaker 2: The Honeysuckle Hill bestro In Cottage is open five to

604
00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:43,800
Speaker 2: eight Friday and Saturday and Sunday, featuring their incredible breakfast

605
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Speaker 2: buffet from eleven to two. For more information call eight

606
00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:49,840
Speaker 2: one two four four three three zero zero three say

607
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,640
Speaker 2: How's Happenings. Also wants to thank our fine friends at

608
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:56,560
Speaker 2: Freedom Foods Indiana. Farmer Ryan Schliman and the folks at

609
00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,840
Speaker 2: Freedom Foods Indiana have been delivering fresh fruits and vegetables

610
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,400
Speaker 2: right to people's doors for years and Freedom Foods Indiana

611
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:05,640
Speaker 2: is a big supporter of State House Happenings. Now Freedom

612
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,920
Speaker 2: Foods Indiana has some big things coming. We can't wait

613
00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:10,840
Speaker 2: to tell you all about it in the near future.

614
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:12,760
Speaker 2: Right now, though, we just want to say thanks to

615
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:16,400
Speaker 2: our friends at Freedom Foods Indiana for supporting State House Happenings.

616
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:17,080
Speaker 3: Rob Kendall.

617
00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:19,160
Speaker 2: The program at State House Happening is your weekly look

618
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:21,840
Speaker 2: at what's going on with Indiana politics and government. You

619
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,680
Speaker 2: can find me on Twitter at Robim Kendall at robim Kendall,

620
00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 2: and you can hear me weekdays nine until noon, weekdays

621
00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:30,520
Speaker 2: nine until noon the Kendall and Casey Show on ninety

622
00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:33,640
Speaker 2: three point one WIBC, and that is going to.

623
00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:34,720
Speaker 3: Do it for us this week. Hard to believe.

624
00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,000
Speaker 2: We just got one more edition of State House Happenings

625
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 2: left in twenty twenty five and into twenty twenty six,

626
00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:43,560
Speaker 2: and a dual in Jim Merritt. We'll return next week,

627
00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:47,360
Speaker 2: so we will look forward to that. I'm Rob Kendall.

628
00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:49,360
Speaker 2: Have yourself a great week you've been listening to State

629
00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:49,880
Speaker 2: House Happenings