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Speaker 1: Casey.

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Speaker 2: I don't know if you've heard the news, but some

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Speaker 2: people are fired up about this idea of redistricting, not.

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Speaker 3: Just here but also in Texas and California.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's so fascinating.

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Speaker 2: We've talked about it, We've gone into great detail numerous

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Speaker 2: times about this that it's just we're just admitting out

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Speaker 2: loud that voting is just completely rigged, like there's no

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Speaker 2: point in any of it.

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Speaker 3: Huh uh huh. If it mattered, they wouldn't let you.

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Speaker 1: Do it correct. They'll they'll will make it whatever we

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Speaker 1: want it to be.

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Speaker 2: And then you just show up has it and pretend

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Speaker 2: like you actually your participation actually mattered.

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Speaker 3: It's like a participation trophy.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely.

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Speaker 2: When you've got the sitting Secretary of State in Indiana

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Speaker 2: basically just saying, our job in voting is to carry

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Speaker 2: Donald Trump's agenda, not not have free and fair elections,

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Speaker 2: not made the beast and best man or woman win, not.

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Speaker 1: Hey, you know, have better ideas.

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Speaker 2: It's our job is just to facilitate Trump's agenda, you know.

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Speaker 4: And the thing about this is, Okay, we're let's have

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Speaker 4: this special session, let's redistrict.

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Speaker 3: What's not to stop them from doing and again in

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Speaker 3: a year.

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Speaker 2: Well, we we're gonna talk with Nicki Kelly coming up

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Speaker 2: at ten fifteen. We're going to get into that about

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Speaker 2: how this little rigging of Marion County if indeed they

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Speaker 2: go down that route.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe just a temporary thing. So we'll get into

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Speaker 1: that lane. I saw this the other day.

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Speaker 2: There was a very interesting article in the Indies or

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Speaker 2: coll opinion piece by Jacob Stuart and it was about

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Speaker 2: the redistricting process and if the Republicans really want to

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Speaker 2: change the maps, especially in the first congressional district, which

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Speaker 2: is that the region as they called the Chicago Land Area,

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Speaker 2: there's a way they could prove to the public it

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Speaker 2: is necessary, and he says they should have a special census.

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Speaker 2: Jacob Stewart from The Indie Star joined us now, Jacob.

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Speaker 5: Hello, yeah, thanks for having me on.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So you worked in the Senate right at one point,

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Speaker 2: the Indiana Senate, correct, So you know how this process,

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Speaker 2: well how the Senate itself works. Do you get a

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Speaker 2: feeling before we get into your column, do you get

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Speaker 2: a feeling that they are going to go forward with

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Speaker 2: the redistricting?

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Speaker 6: You know, these people, the feeling that they will very

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Speaker 6: reluctantly though. I don't think there's much of a passion

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Speaker 6: for it, but there's a recognition that if they don't,

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Speaker 6: then well they might get primaried. Some of these national

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Speaker 6: figures will try to weigh into Indiana politics and make

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Speaker 6: sure they don't get reelected.

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Speaker 2: So is their theory that they actually think Charlie Kirk

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Speaker 2: is going to put some sort of like boots on

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Speaker 2: the ground operation against them.

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Speaker 1: That just seems absurd to me.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, that seems to be it.

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Speaker 6: You know, whether or not that ends up panning out,

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Speaker 6: we'll see, but who knows.

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Speaker 4: So what you're saying is the guy who looks like

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Speaker 4: a thumb has more control than me and my vote.

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Speaker 5: I mean, it's very a stands to reason.

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Speaker 1: Yes, Casey, I think that's, in a nice way, exactly

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Speaker 1: what you're saying.

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Speaker 2: OK, all right, so you had this interesting piece about, Hey,

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Speaker 2: the first district is the one they think everybody the

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Speaker 2: Republicans are super targeting. Maybe they could figure out a

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Speaker 2: way to make the Marion County seventh the congressional district

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Speaker 2: Republican two, but the first is the one everybody seems

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Speaker 2: to be focused on. And you had an interesting idea.

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Speaker 2: You said, look, if there's a need for this, show

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Speaker 2: us and you can do it through special senses, tell

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Speaker 2: us about the column.

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Speaker 6: Right, yeah, so I actually grew up in northwest Indiana.

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Speaker 6: You know, there's a lot of housing development, there's a

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Speaker 6: lot of growth there, a lot of people moving from

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Speaker 6: Chicago that commute there still. So I think it's there's

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Speaker 6: a legitimate opinion out there that the population is growing,

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Speaker 6: so maybe they should be reconsidered. Their apportionment in the

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Speaker 6: Congress should be reconsidered. So my column essentially addresses that

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Speaker 6: point and says, if you want to redistrict the state,

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Speaker 6: you know, redistricting is always a partisan games, always drawn

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Speaker 6: to advantage the majority party. But if you want to

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Speaker 6: do it now, you know, mid cycle redistricting is pretty rare,

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Speaker 6: but it has happened before. You need to at least

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Speaker 6: prove there is some reason for it. And some state

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Speaker 6: legislators have come out with saying that exact thing. If

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Speaker 6: you want to redistrict, we should figure out how the

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Speaker 6: population has changed since twenty twenty.

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Speaker 2: So you have to do that as a part of

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Speaker 2: the map. Right, You've got to have equal populations in

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Speaker 2: these in resistricts.

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Speaker 6: Right, Yeah, there's federal requirement that they need to be

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Speaker 6: roughly equal in population. So it seems like a pretty

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Speaker 6: easy thing to say that you need to at least

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Speaker 6: see how many people are in the district you're changing.

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Speaker 4: Well, that could also backfire on them, couldn't it If

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Speaker 4: they do, you know, the census, and there's less.

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Speaker 6: It could if there's more people in the more liberal

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Speaker 6: leaning parts of the Northwest Indiana district, then maybe the

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Speaker 6: district would have to be smaller and centered more around

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Speaker 6: those more liberal leaning and more urban areas.

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Speaker 5: So yeah, it could definitely backfire.

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Speaker 2: Jacob Stewart from The Indie Star as our guest. He

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Speaker 2: has a new column out talking about redistricting and saying

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Speaker 2: a great way that the Republicans could appease a lot

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Speaker 2: of people have concerns that this is just simply partisan politics,

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Speaker 2: is to prove the need for redistricting, especially in the

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Speaker 2: first congressional district, and have a special census. How would

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Speaker 2: this work? Because you said, look, Trump clearly wants this.

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Speaker 2: There's probably a way the state could do this without

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Speaker 2: it being put on the state's tab to have a

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Speaker 2: special census.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean more than likely.

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Speaker 6: So the last special census we've seen is Westfield.

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Speaker 1: We talked about that. It was like two million dollars.

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Speaker 5: Very expensive.

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Speaker 6: But you know, a special session would also cost at

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Speaker 6: least half a million, if not more, depending on how

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Speaker 6: long it came.

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Speaker 2: So let us talk about that, because Braun came out

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Speaker 2: the other day and tried to.

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Speaker 1: Go, oh, it'll be like one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

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Speaker 2: There's no way they're doing a special session for one

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Speaker 2: hundred and fifty thousand.

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Speaker 6: Dollars and maybe a couple legislators paychecks would be one

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Speaker 6: hundred and fifty.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Well you and you're the perfect guy asked this question

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Speaker 2: because you worked there. You know how this offerts. He's

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Speaker 2: full of it when it's say one hundred and fifty dollars.

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Speaker 6: It's a part time legislature, So what we're paying them

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Speaker 6: now is just for the first Every other year it's

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Speaker 6: January through March, and then every budget session it's January

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Speaker 6: through around May.

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Speaker 5: So if we have a special session, that's all the salaries.

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Speaker 6: These legislatures are legislators that we need to pay per

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Speaker 6: DM so it's per day.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we're paying them mileage all this other stuff. Yeah yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 1: So Braun.

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Speaker 2: This will shock you, Casey Braun lied what Like I know,

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Speaker 2: give it all the positive encounters we had with Braun

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Speaker 2: that it was very shocking. But but like tell us

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Speaker 2: theoretically how a special census might work and how Indiana

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Speaker 2: might be able to say, hey, you want it, President,

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Speaker 2: you do it.

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Speaker 6: So how it's working in Westfield, from my understanding, is

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Speaker 6: that people in the area are getting mailers with a

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Speaker 6: special code on it that they can then go online

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Speaker 6: to fill out you know, who's in their household and everything.

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Speaker 5: So it would probably work about the same.

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Speaker 6: You know, if you want to if you want to

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Speaker 6: redistrict and you're going to focus on northwest Indiana, Lake

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Speaker 6: Porter and part of Laporte Counties are in that district,

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Speaker 6: So sending it mailers to everyone in those districts and

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Speaker 6: then you know, getting account of their household and everything.

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Speaker 6: That's about how the special census would work, and it

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Speaker 6: would definitely cost a lot of money.

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Speaker 4: So Okay, Now, with everything that's been going on with

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Speaker 4: Ice and some people's fears, whether warranted or not, do

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Speaker 4: you think people would comply or participate?

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Speaker 6: You know, it's I think so it's going to be

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Speaker 6: sent to every household. I you know, there's always going

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Speaker 6: to be that fear, but I think most people will

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Speaker 6: probably participate, although you know, to your point, Lake County

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Speaker 6: is one of the more immigrant heavy counties in our state,

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Speaker 6: so that could very well be a concern that people have.

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Speaker 2: Jacob Stewart from the Indie Start is our guests get

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Speaker 2: a new column out about redistricting, talking about the idea

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Speaker 2: of a special census might be able to help the

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Speaker 2: Republicans accomplish their goals, make the public feel better about

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Speaker 2: what they're trying to do here. I want to come

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Speaker 2: back this because here's what I don't understand. And you

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Speaker 2: know these guys because you worked in the Indiana General Assembly.

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Speaker 2: Todd Houston and Rod Bray ruled that place with an

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Speaker 2: iron fist, right as Bosma and David Long did before.

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Speaker 2: Ninety percent of these guys and girls who are in

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Speaker 2: there are just rank and file. Whatever the boss tells

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Speaker 2: me to I'm gonna do. They don't want this, It's

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Speaker 2: pretty obvious, right, Like you know these dudes, you got

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Speaker 2: to read the tea leaves.

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Speaker 1: What are they worried? Why are these lawmakers worried? Then?

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Speaker 2: Because let's face it, the primary challenge often comes from like,

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Speaker 2: if you're a Kurt and Eisley or a John Jacob,

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Speaker 2: you a rebel rouser, we being the establishment, find some

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Speaker 2: passable person and then give them a gajillion dollars. I

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Speaker 2: would think they would be able if they really didn't

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Speaker 2: want this, to go to these guys and go don't

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Speaker 2: listen to Charlie Kirk. He's not gonna do anything. He's

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Speaker 2: gonna be on to the next state. He's not gonna

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Speaker 2: remember your name or where you're from. If they really

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Speaker 2: are against this, don't they have the political will to

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Speaker 2: tell these guys we ain't doing this.

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Speaker 5: They certainly do.

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Speaker 6: I do think though, there is a sizeable part of

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Speaker 6: their base in Indiana who will try to hold them

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Speaker 6: accountable if they don't do everything they can to quote

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Speaker 6: unquote fight fire with fire. I think that's pretty ironic though,

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Speaker 6: because I mean, whatever happened to holding your party accountable?

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Speaker 5: Last time I checked.

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Speaker 6: The last election, both the Republican and Democratic parties completely

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Speaker 6: altered their platforms. You know, the Republican's water down language

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Speaker 6: on abortion, gun rights, that sort of thing, and the Democrats,

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Speaker 6: I think they remove language around the death penalty, so

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Speaker 6: it's like, on the one breath, these people want them

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Speaker 6: to fight fire with fire. On the next they will

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Speaker 6: probably complain that they don't really care what they think

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Speaker 6: because you know, these legislatures, legislators will be more in

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Speaker 6: a safe Republican district. So I think it's ironic in

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Speaker 6: that sense.

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Speaker 2: Are you implying people just totally make it up as

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Speaker 2: they go along? Yeah, that what you're implying, all right,

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Speaker 2: find him over indiestar. Indiestar dot com is the website.

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Speaker 2: We always enjoy reading your stuff without your thing on

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Speaker 2: the post office. Last week was fascinating about getting rid

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Speaker 2: of the post office. Did a big second on that,

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Speaker 2: Jacob Stewart, Thank you, Thank you,