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A mural in downtown Seymour, the largest municipality in House District 69, celebrates the city’s native son, singer-songwriter John Mellencamp. (Photo/Marilyn Odendahl)

By Marilyn Odendahl
The Indiana Citizen
October 25, 2024

At first glance, House District 69, located about an hour’s drive south of Indianapolis, is a bucolic setting, with the small city of Seymour and towns of Brownstown, Crothersville, Austin and Salem nestled between cornfields and rolling hills.

Even with its 21,373 residents, which dwarfs the rest of the district, Seymour stays close to its agricultural roots. A few farm equipment stores are located in the city, growing fields are just a short drive from downtown and every year, the high school celebrates “Tractor Day,” where students drive their tractors to class.

But appearances can deceive. Changing demographics and economic hardships are cited as major challenges by the community’s leaders and by those who want to represent it in the state legislature, even if they disagree on which issues are most pressing or on how to solve them.

“We have a lot of people here who are struggling to make ends meet,” says Trish Whitcomb, the Democratic candidate for the district’s seat in the Indiana General Assembly.

When Whitcomb announced her campaign in August 2023, she pointedly drew a contrast between herself and the district’s incumbent, Republican state Rep. Jim Lucas.

A native of Seymour and daughter of Edgar Whitcomb, Indiana’s 43rd governor, she said she wanted to represent the interests of all of the people who live in the district. She also said her opponent’s driving-while-intoxicated arrest earlier that year convinced her to run against Lucas. “This district deserves better,” she said at her campaign’s launch.

Lucas, who is seeking a seventh term representing the district, trounced his Democratic opponents in the three previous general elections, winning roughly 70 percent of the vote each time.  This time around, the legislator, who has long stirred up controversy with his actions and statements, is running for reelection with even more baggage than usual.

In particular, in the late spring of 2023, Lucas crashed his vehicle and tried to evade police before being arrested and accused of drunken driving.

During the 2024 legislative session, Lucas also made national headlines for flashing a handgun to a group of high school students visiting the Indiana Statehouse. He had engaged the students in a conversation when he learned they were there to advocate against gun violence, and, he later said, he was “simply showing them something that is protected by our Constitution” when he pulled open his suit coat to reveal his firearm.

Lucas is not worried those incidents will hurt him at the ballot box this November. His constituents know him, he said, because his political views have remained the same since he first won his Statehouse seat in 2012 and even when he served on the Seymour Common Council.

“I consider myself a small ‘L’ Libertarian constitutionalist,” Lucas said. “The Constitution applies to everybody equally. It’s very plainly written. It means was it says and that’s what we need to get back to.”

 

Rep. Jim Lucas 2023
Republican Jim Lucas has represented House District 69 in the Indiana Legislature since 2012. (Photo/Indiana Republican Caucus)

 

‘Child care, transportation, housing and mental health’

While Lucas is relying on name recognition this election, Whitcomb has to make an almost daily choice between spending her time fundraising for her campaign or knocking on doors. Going door to door introducing herself is a labor-intensive task that in rural parts of the district can mean she is only able to visit about five homes in an hour.

Whitcomb said she has a tendency to stay on the doorsteps and front porches longer than common political campaign wisdom says she should, but the people in House District 69 want to talk.

When she introduces herself and says she is running for state representative, she asks the individuals what they think are the most important issues for state government. An “I don’t know” reply will lead Whitcomb to prod a bit, asking how they feel about living in a county that does not have a hospital, which will often spark a conversation that flows into other topics like the need for child care.

“People want to work, but child care, transportation, housing and mental health … are interfering with work,” Whitcomb said. “Employers tell me that the number one reason for tardiness or absenteeism is lack of child care.”

In the city of Salem, tucked in the southern part of the house district, the volunteers at the Washington County Food Bank see families experiencing hardships every week. Each month, the food bank serves between 500 and 600 families, including about 900 children, according to Maurice Godfrey, 17-year volunteer and vice president of the food bank’s board.

Since the COVID pandemic, Godfrey said, the food bank has been serving more working families. These people, who are just a leaky water heater or broken furnace or malfunctioning car away from a financial crisis, are coming for help, he said.

The main obstacle to stability for many of those families is finding affordable housing, Godfrey said. People making $15 an hour, he said, cannot save enough money to pay the deposit and first month’s rent on an apartment.

However, Godfrey has not had the chance to press for more family housing because, he said, state or local politicians have never visited the food bank and asked what they could do to help. Personally, Godfrey was familiar with the presidential and gubernatorial candidates but did not know Lucas was the state representative for Salem.

He is hopeful the election will change things for the better, but he also harbors some fear.

“It could get worse,” Godfrey said.

 

 

Trish Whitcomb with supporter
Democrat Trish Whitcomb, daughter of Indiana’s 43rd governor Edgar Whitcomb, talks to a friend at her campaign launch party in 2023. (Photo/Marilyn Odendahl)

 

Anti-immigrant falsehoods derail economic development plan

Sitting in his small business, Lucas sees immigration as the top concern of his district. He believes that frustration with the growth of the migrant community, along with the false rumor that Seymour is becoming a sanctuary city, will propel him to another election night victory.

He ticked off a list of concerns commonly linked to immigrants. His complaints include immigrants are driving down wages, driving up housing costs and forcing local schools to expend extra resources to teach their children English.

Asked how a state could address immigration since that is an issue solely under the jurisdiction of the federal government, Lucas was undeterred. “We can make Indiana an uncomfortable state for those that come here illegally,” he replied.

Seymour Mayor Matthew Nicholson, who won a second term in 2023, hesitated to describe immigration as an overriding issue for his city. The immigrant population has been growing for the past 40 years and while residents talk about immigration, it is not their top concern, he said.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got people that will talk to me about immigration every chance they get,” Nicholson said. “But the things I hear about are housing and housing prices.”

Even so, an economic-development plan, crafted by community members and officials from the Brookings Institution and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation to brighten Seymour’s future, was derailed in March by fears and anger over immigration.

The initiative, dubbed the Burkart Opportunity Zone, was comprehensive and would have transformed Seymour, Nicholson said. Along with creating job-training programs and providing support to entrepreneurs, the plan included building more housing, developing a new master plan for parks, and constructing a new community recreation facility.

However, the plan’s call for a new immigrant welcome center became a flashpoint. The welcome center would have been a permanent home for Su Casa, a nonprofit that is already working in Seymour to help immigrants navigate health care, education, job training, child care and other services.

Su Casa did not return a call seeking an interview.

Seymour’s population is 68% white and 26% Latino/Hispanic, but in the opportunity zone, which the plan said is one of the “most population-dense and racially and ethnically diverse areas” in the city, 55% of the residents are people of color with nearly half being Latino/Hispanic.

During a common council meeting in March, opponents of the Burkart plan crammed into the room and unleashed angry tirades. The council bowed to the pressure and passed a resolution which essentially withdrew the city’s participation in the development of the opportunity zone.

Lucas, who described himself as being “very outspoken” against the Burkart plan, was part of the opposition at the council meeting. He read from prepared remarks before the council members and even thanked the audience for attending the council meeting, according to the Columbus Republic.

Months later, Lucas was still opposed to the plan.

“When we have several immigration challenges going on right now, do we really want to be welcoming more,” Lucas said.

Nicholson disputed allegations that the welcome center would have brought more undocumented immigrants into the community. He emphasized the center would have been a resource to help immigrants get settled and navigate local services. As an example, he pointed to an arrest of a local resident who had been running a dentistry practice out of his garage. With the welcome center, he said, the community would have had a place to connect with immigrants and direct them to a legitimate dental office.

“There was nothing in there beyond trying to help those that are here,” Nicholson said of the welcome center idea.

Whitcomb faulted Lucas. She pointed to an encounter with a former classmate in the local Walmart, where the conversation turned from pleasantries to rumors about Seymour becoming a so-called sanctuary city and free housing being built for undocumented workers. To get that kind of disinformation, she said, people either have to look specifically for it or they had to be fed it.

“He has the Donald Trump system of communication – just throw an idea out there and then let it blow up,” Whitcomb said of Lucas.

‘Tone down the rhetoric’

As a legislator, Lucas touted his record on Second Amendment rights. He has authored bills that would have eliminated gun-free zones, allowed teachers and school staff to carry guns on school property, repealed the licensure requirement for people to carry a handgun, and provided firearms training for teachers.

“Our gun rights are much stronger across the whole state, because, I think, of the work I’ve done,” Lucas said. “Gun rights have been my number one issue since I’ve been (in the legislature).”

His advocacy for guns, however, drew a heavy backlash when he flashed his weapon at the Statehouse. Critics took to social media to call him a “societal stain” and “monster.” The high school students who had been talking to Lucas were upset by the incident, saying they felt threatened, scared and hopeless.

Alison Case, a parent chaperone who had accompanied the group to the legislature, described the students’ attempts to explain their views to Lucas as like “talking to a wall.”

“It’s disheartening,” Case said. “I think it’s a reason why people don’t go out and vote, because they feel like it doesn’t matter.”

Whitcomb has never held elected office, but she managed Glenda Ritz’s successful campaign for Indiana superintendent of public instruction. She transitioned to working as a special adviser in the Indiana Department of Education, where she witnessed the relationship grow so hostile between Ritz and Gov. Mike Pence that the legislature amended the law to make the state superintendent position appointed, rather than elected.

That experience working in state government was a reminder of a fundamental principle of public service, Whitcomb said.

“When you are elected, you serve everyone, not just the people who voted for you, not just the people who have contributed to your campaign,” Whitcomb said. “When you go into that office, you represent everybody, period.”

Even so, in the Statehouse, Whitcomb would be a member of the Democratic minority. She said she believes her experience in public service, coupled with the “respectful relationships” she already has with some lawmakers, will enable her to get legislation passed.

“I think that my best chance at being involved in productive legislation is my willingness to talk with people,” Whitcomb said. “I have a pretty good track record of coalition-building.”

As she talks about House District 69 and Lucas’ track record as a legislator, Whitcomb does not mention his 2023 arrest and guilty plea. In late May 2023, Lucas crashed through a guardrail on I-65 and allegedly drove the wrong way down an interstate entrance ramp before parking his vehicle and trying to evade police. He was arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor, and leaving the scene of an accident, a Class B  misdemeanor.

While talking about the incident, Lucas crossed his arms over his chest. He said he had made a “huge mistake,” took full responsibility and did all the court ordered him to do, including attend six Alcoholics Anonymous classes. The experience taught him compassion, he said, but he no longer attends AA.

“I’ve taken a different path,” Lucas said. “I pray more.”

 

Maurice Godfrey at Washington Co Food Bank
Maurice Godfrey, vice president of the Washington County Food Bank, said a jar of peanut butter that is given to each needy family who comes for help. (Photo/Marilyn Odendahl)

 

One recent morning, Godfrey, at the Washington County Food Bank, was more concerned about feeding families than about politics. He walked around the food bank, pointing out the boxes of fresh produce, stacks of canned goods, and freezers stocked with chicken, beef, ground beef and pork. In one corner, jars of peanut butter were stacked on pallets. Godfrey said everybody gets a jar of peanut butter and families with a lot of children get two jars.

The food bank is open three days a week, operating in a one-story building a block from the town square that at one time, was home to a blacksmith’s shop. Through the upwards of 5,000 pounds of food from Dare to Care Food Bank each month, plus donations from local grocery stores, small churches and individuals, the nonprofit is able to provide a variety of food to the families in need.

Salem, population 6,330, had a median household income of $48,205 and an unemployment rate of 1.9% in 2022, but its poverty rate was 25%, according to STATS Indiana. By comparison, Seymour had median household income of $57,347, an unemployment rate of 2.1% and a poverty rate of 16.7%.

A former social studies teacher and retired farmer, Godfrey is distressed by the poverty in his community, the children who are not encouraged to get an education, the drug addiction and the divisive politics.

Godfrey had one suggestion for politicians: “They ought to just tone down the rhetoric and try to solve the problems.”

Dwight Adams, a freelance editor and writer based in Indianapolis, edited this article. He is a former content editor, copy editor and digital producer at The Indianapolis Star and IndyStar.com, and worked as a planner for other newspapers, including the Louisville Courier Journal.

The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org.

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