FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Indiana Rural Summit
Local House candidates band together to demand more for rural voters, kicking off a six-stop event tour at Jasper Strassenfest.
The Indiana Rural Summit, nine Democratic State House candidates from districts that represent 24% of Indiana across 22 counties, are rallying around a unified message of hope for Hoosiers: Rural communities and small towns can have better healthcare, schools, and jobs. Turning disempowering gerrymandered districts into a secret superpower, they are uniting to spread this hopeful message to thousands of rural voters, too often left without a choice on the ballot for state representative due to unopposed races.
“We care about local issues, and our concerns are deeply rooted in our love of family, community, and the beauty of our region,” says Ryan Still, Monroe County Rural Engagement Deputy Director and organizer for the Indiana Rural Summit. “The continued policies of extraction and exploitation from our Republican supermajority legislature has left us behind and silenced. Our current state representatives prioritize corporate lobbyists and outside influencers over Hoosiers. We want legislators who understand our concerns and refuse to sell us out. We want a state that works for all of us, not just the wealthy few. We all want to live in communities that thrive.”
Inspired by our first national motto, “E Pluribus Unum” (“Out of many, one”), these candidates are kicking off a six-stop tour around the region this August and September to connect with some of Indiana’s most ignored and poorly represented voters. First stop: Jasper’s popular Strassenfest, home to the Indiana Rural Summit member Teresa Kendall, who is running for House District 63.
Rural Summit Kick-Off
Strassenfest Parade
August 4th at 1pm
Rural Summit candidates Jennifer McCormick (candidate for Governor) and Destiny Wells (candidate for Attorney General) will march in the beloved parade. German band Hungry5 will be performing traditional music to add to the festivities.
“Most of our districts are rural or artificially rural due to gerrymandering, keeping rural voters isolated, unheard, and desperately misunderstood. Rarely are these voters asked about their vision for Indiana by those elected to represent them,” explains Michelle Higgs, Indiana Rural Summit member running for House District 60. (Monroe/Morgan/Johnson Counties). “Rural voters need a seat at the table.”
The Indiana Rural Summit is using the very cause that isolates communities to unite and give rural voters both a voice and an option. Unifying gerrymandered districts that share county overlap, these nine candidates are turning gerrymandering into a regional coalition fighting for regional solutions to improve rural Hoosiers’ quality of life. These solutions include better access to comprehensive healthcare, to jobs with livable wages and benefits, to safe andaffordable housing, and to quality public education.
Why do we need the Indiana Rural Summit?
Indiana has the lowest voter turnout in the nation. It also has a Republican supermajority and a large slate of unopposed races. (Indiana currently has 26 uncontested House seats.)
These two facts are connected: The Indiana GOP creates voter suppression and apathy through gerrymandering and blocking ballot initiatives, so they can pass embarrassingly bad legislation here first (what Michelle Higgs, Rural Summit cohort candidate for HD 60, calls Indiana’s “Midwest Nice Legislative Stamp of Approval”).
Our tour will be throughout August and September, culminating in a statewide Zoom call in October with statewide candidates, launching GOTV initiatives.
Who We Are:
HD 46 Kurtis Cummings [Vigo/Clay/Owen/Monroe Counties]
HD 47 Michael Potter [Johnson/Shelby Counties]
HD 60 Michelle Higgs [Monroe/Morgan/Johnson Counties]
HD 62 Thomas Horrocks [Monroe/Brown Counties]
HD 63 Teresa Kendall [Davies/Martin/Pike/Dubois Counties]
HD 66 Jennifer David [Scott/Jefferson/Clark Counties]
HD 69 Trish Whitcomb [Bartholomew, Jackson, Scott, and Washington Counties]
HD 70 Sarah Blessing [Harrison/Clark/Floyd/Washington Counties]
HD 73 Hollie Payton [Shelby/Bartholomew/Decatur/Jennings Counties]
Please SAVE THE DATE of Tuesday, September 24, 2024 - that will be our Morgan County Summit Tour Stop.
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