The candidates vying for the District 41 seat in the Indiana Senate see the state moving in two different directions.
For Republican Greg Walker, who has held the seat since 2006, the legislature has made great strides in addressing issues such as investing in an educated workforce, encouraging economic growth and improving quality of life for residents. He’d like to keep building off those improvements.
His opponent, Columbus resident Ross Thomas, would like to turn around what he sees as decreasing support for public education and an economic environment that doesn’t provide enough for people to earn a living wage.
Thomas, a Democrat, will attempt to end Walker’s string of 12 years in the Indiana Senate in this year’s general election. They’re squaring off to represent a district that includes Pleasant, Clark, Franklin, Needham, Nineveh and Blue River townships in Johnson County. The district also represents a portion of Bartholomew County.
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Walker was elected to the Senate in 2006. He serves as the chairman of the elections committee, and has served on committees focused on labor, tax and fiscal policy and ethics. He is the ranking member of the Senate’s committees on family and children services, as well as insurance and financial institutions.
His time in the Senate has taught him to challenge his own bias and pay attention to the different sides of issues in order to best legislate the problems facing the state.
"I’ve found what I’ve learned is to be very cautious in listening. I’ve learned to appreciate voices of people that I initially thought I would disagree with, because I can always learn something about a solution by hearing those who are either hanging on to the status quo or objecting to the change," he said.
His decision to run for a fourth term stems from a desire to continue working for his constituents, as well as seeing what can happen under the leadership of Rodric Bray, the Senate’s new president pro temp, and Mark Messmer, the new majority floor leader.
"I see them both taking a very informed, analytic approach to legislation. That style appeals to me. I try to take a very analytic approach to problem-solving, so I see a lot of good things coming in the new session," he said.
Looking at the current flux in the political climate, both across the country and throughout Indiana, Walker feels that voters want to see continuity in their leaders. They want leaders who are open to conversation as opposed to being so dismissive, he said.
Indiana has done well with a legislature that has avoided the divisiveness that plagues other parts of our political system, he said.
"If you visit the statehouse, you see a lot of people who can actually communicate with one another, rather than talking over each other," he said.
Thomas is running for office for the first time. He had always paid attention to politics and been involved with campaigning for candidates in the past. This year, he was motivated to get involved after disagreeing with the direction elected leaders seemed to be taking the state and the country.
One of his foremost concerns is the state of public education in the state. He would like to see more local control of curriculum and less standardized testing.
The expansion of the voucher programs and the lack of funding threatens one of the bedrocks of our communities, he said.
"We saw a huge decrease in funding during the (former Gov. Mitch) Daniels administration, and it’s really taken a long time to try to fix what I would call a mistake," he said. "We’ve increased funding for education, yes, but less than the rate of inflation."
While he is not against charter schools, he would like to see more oversight on how those private institutions are set up.
"Charter schools have their place, but I think we’ve seen the commercialization of charters, a lot of groups creating charter schools but not having to follow the same rules and guidelines as regular public schools," he said. "Expanding that has not been something where we’ve seen improvements in test scores or in overall education."
Thomas also is concerned about the economic and labor situation in the state. While leaders have done a good job creating jobs, they have neglected to ensure those jobs come with adequate wages.
Officials need to make sure that businesses that come to Indiana are providing jobs with wages they can survive on, he said.
"I don’t think we should be in a race to the bottom in terms of wages, as opposed to Mississippi or West Virginia, because we have low wages and lax environmental rules, where you can come here and exploit people," he said. "I would rather work from the bottom up and create a better quality of life, with good schools and better infrastructure."
Campaign finance reform is another important issue the state needs to address, to bring corporate interest and influence out of the legislature, he said.
If re-elected, Walker would like to continue addressing troubling issues throughout the state. One of his primary concerns is predatory lending practices, he said. He has been hoping to bring legislation forth that would protect consumers from these types of extremely high interest rate loans.
"There’s a responsibility to protect against usury, and I don’t think Indiana is fulfilling that role right now," he said.
Another concern is helping farmers more directly reach customers, making it easier to facilitate the farm-to-table movement of local food that helps both growers and consumers.
As has been his foundational belief since he was elected, Walker also wants to reduce the amount of bureaucracy that hampers people’s daily lives.
"Anything to deal with increasing personal freedom, and limiting the encroachment of red tape in our lives," he said.
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Name: Greg Walker
Home: Columbus
Party: Republican
Family: Wife, Allison; children: Michaela, Hannah, Andrew, Rebecca
Employment: Consultant with Proffer Brainchild Analytics
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Indiana University; master of business administration, Indiana Wesleyan University
Political experience: First elected in 2006
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State Senate District 41
District: Includes eastern Johnson County and parts of Bartholomew County.
Duties: State lawmakers enact and amend all state laws. The legislature also provides oversight to the state judicial and executive branches.
Term: 4 years
Pay: $25,945 per year, plus $173 for each day in session or at a committee hearing
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Name: Ross Thomas
Home: Columbus
Party: Democrat
Family: Spouse Amy and three children
Occupation: Attorney
Education: Bachelor of arts in political economy from Tulane University and law degree from Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis
Political experience: None
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