Three Democrats want to take a state legislature seat and represent the southwest side of Indianapolis, as well as some Johnson County residents.
Angela Elliott, Andy Miller and Abdul-Aziz Yamobi are facing each other in the Democratic primary election, competing for the District 93 seat in the Indiana House of Representatives.
State representatives author and vote on bills that come before the General Assembly, as well as approve the state’s bi-annual budget. District 93 includes the southern portion of Perry Township and Indianapolis in Marion County, and a portion of White River Township in Johnson County.
Whoever wins the Democratic primary will face one of two Republicans in the fall general election, including incumbent Dollyne Sherman, who was elected via caucus to the post in 2019.
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Elliott has lived in Johnson County for 25 years, and is the only Democrat candidate in the county running opposed in a primary, she said. Elliot, an independent business consultant, previously worked in information technology at Eli Lilly for more than 20 years.
She got more involved with politics after the 2016 election because she was concerned about the direction the country was going. She got her start in politics with the Johnson County Democrats, and was elected as a White River Township precinct committee person in 2018.
Elliott says she was asked to run for state representative by the organization 25 Women for 2020, with a mission to get more women involved in the Indiana legislature, she said.
She didn’t hesitate to begin her campaign, and wants to bring a diverse perspective to the table at the Statehouse.
“I think 23% of our General Assembly is female, and we are 51% of the population, so bringing more women to the table is important,” Elliott said. “We need women who are competent and caring and ready to do the job to step up and run for these offices.”
If elected, Elliott would focus on the “Four E’s” of her platform: education, employment, environment and equality for all, she said.
“Part of our platform is enabling the future, not just putting band-aids on the problems today,” Elliott said.
She would work to raise teacher salaries, and take a look at the bigger policies that have negatively impacted education in Indiana. For employment, Elliott wants to bring more jobs to the state. For environment, she wants to combat environmental contamination, including addressing contamination concerns in Franklin, she said.
Elliott also wants to put a greater emphasis on diversity in the state, specifically working on more comprehensive laws to protect groups from hate crimes, she said.
“We need to be a welcoming state to all, and our reputation now as a state is that we are not,” Elliott said.
Andy Miller is new to politics, too. A longtime resident of Indianapolis, he spent most of his life as an electrical engineer before returning to college in 2015 at IUPUI to major in general studies with a minor in political science. He expects to finish his degree soon, he said.
As a union electrician in 2012, Miller went to the Statehouse to protest against the right-to-work legislation that prohibits unions from forcing non-members to pay agency fees.
“The legislation still passed, and I felt defeated,” he said. “That is kind of what sparked me to do something.”
He didn’t know where to begin for a few years, but he landed his first political internship in 2019 with the Indiana House Democrats, he said. When he found out former District 93 representative David Frizzell was retiring, Miller kicked off his campaign for the spot.
“For the longest time, I didn’t know where to begin or how to begin,” Miller said. “I knew I wanted to serve to give Hoosiers a bigger voice, a better voice.”
If elected, Miller will prioritize workers’ rights, teacher pay increases and protecting small businesses. Now more than ever, it’s important to help small businesses given the COVID-19 pandemic, Miller said.
“It breaks my heart to see (small businesses struggle),” he said. “I’m trying to do what I can to keep these small businesses open, but I’m only one person.”
For Yamobi, most of his political involvement has been from the “outside looking in,” helping with other campaigns in the area, he said. He decided to run for office this election cycle to make changes at the state level, which he described as “dysfunctional.”
“I felt this was my time to enter into a race that would be for the people, by the people,” he said.
Yamobi is from Chicago, and has lived in Indianapolis for the past 20 years, having moved to the southside three years ago. He is a veteran of the United States Army, and works as a licensed therapist.
He was a longtime Republican, but changed parties after President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, he said.
Because of his support for both parties, Yamobi said he would bring compromise to the table if elected.
“We have to reach across the aisle. We have to compromise,” he said. “In today’s political institution, it’s almost viewed as a sin to compromise. That’s what I would spring, the spirit to compromise.”
Yamobi would prioritize finding solutions to educational inequality, which includes making sure all children have equal access to a good education. For example, he is concerned that many families right now don’t have access to the technology that’s needed for online learning, with all schools closed the remainder of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Some type of action needs to be done so that children in lower economic families can have more access, so they can continue to learn and study,” Yamobi said.
His other priorities include a focus on domestic violence and protecting the rights of people incarcerated at state institutions.
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Name: Angela Elliott
Age: 51
Residence: White River Township
Family: Husband and two children
Occupation: Independent business consultant
Education: Indiana University
Memberships: 25 Women for 2020; Network of Women in Business
Political experience: Current precinct committee person for White River Township District 16
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Name: Andy Miller
Age: 43
Residence: Indianapolis
Family: Engaged with four children
Occupation: Works at the gallery at Herron School of Art and Design
Education: Graduated from Emmerich Manual High School; student at IUPUI
Political experience: No public offices held; interned with Indiana House Democratic Caucus in 2019.
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Name: Abdul-Aziz Yamobi
Age: 55
Residence: Indianapolis
Family: Not married; four children, two deceased
Occupation: Independent licensed therapist
Education: Ball State University; Martin University
Military service: Army for six years
Political experience: None
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See Thursday’s Daily Journal for a story about the two Republicans running for a shot at the District 93 seat in the Indiana House of Representatives.
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