INDIANA: THE RACE IS ON

The Primary is today. While the presidential race has consumed much of the attention, will have a very clear choice in the U.S. Senate race between and whoever secures the GOP nomination.

Baron Hill is the son of shoe factory workers from Seymour, Indiana. He saw his parents lose their jobs with no pension or health insurance. He saw how hard they had to work to bounce back, and he felt firsthand how difficult things are when the deck is stacked against hard-working families.

While our economy continues to recover, Baron knows the challenges families face as they bounce back. He understands the frustration of trying to make ends meet in a broken system that only benefits special interests. That’s why Baron has spent his life fighting for women, workers, seniors and families, and why he believes we are stronger when we all work together to move Indiana forward.

Baron Hill will always put Indiana first. He has a clear record of standing up to both parties when they are wrong, and a history of fighting special interests. He has rejected and renounced divisive politics and wants to bring Indiana together so that every Hoosier has a fighting chance to reach their God-given potential.

As a grandfather, Baron is focused on the future. He will bring advanced manufacturing jobs back to Indiana with better education and job training and a stronger infrastructure. He will strengthen all families by passing Paid Family & Medical Leave and the Equality Act and by ensuring equal pay for equal work. He will protect Social Security and Medicare from privatization. And, he’ll fight to overturn Citizens United, get dark money out of politics and return the power of elections to the people - not the special interests and billionaire donors.

Meanwhile, Baron’s Republican opponents have spent six years in Washington contributing to the dysfunction that makes Congress so unpopular. Instead of working across the aisle to improve the lives of Hoosier families, Baron’s opponents threatened the default of the U.S. economy for the first time ever and voted to shut down the federal government costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Meanwhile, they embrace and as they say and do terrible things about women.

In November, voters will have a clear choice: They can choose a proven, independent fighter for Hoosier families in Baron Hill or they can embrace the divisive and destructive politics of the Pence/Trump ticket.

State of the Race

Indiana has been in the news a lot in recent years to the embarrassment of Hoosiers on both sides of the aisle. Governor Mike Pence forced a pro-discrimination bill through the General Assembly and signed it into law, which has cost Hoosiers millions of dollars. Just last month, Governor Pence signed House Bill 1337 into law, which many women’s rights groups, medical professionals and even pro-life state legislators are chastising him . At the same time, Governor Pence has come under fire for failing to adequately invest in Indiana’s transportation infrastructure. All of this will be fresh in Hoosiers’ minds when they cast their ballots in November.

At the presidential level, the GOP has no answer for Donald Trump. While he has taken his party by storm, his public comments have isolated key demographic groups, including a large majority of women. In fact, Baron has repeatedly called on his opponent to denounce Donald Trump’s rhetoric, and instead, they have both said he would support Trump’s candidacy if he wins the GOP nomination.

Whoever secures the GOP Senate nomination tonight, that nominee will find himself on the ballot with two of the least popular men on any ballot in the country this year -- Trump and Pence – and he will have to answer for their records -- as well as his own -- if he wants to be Indiana’s next U.S. Senator.

Todd Young’s Awful Record...and Multiple Bailouts

Todd Young was elected to Congress in 2010, and since that time has shown more interest in taking party line votes and advancing his own political career than in working on behalf of the people who elected him. He has voted to repeal the ACA over 60 times, voted to continue tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas. He also voted for the Ryan Budget which turns Medicare into a voucher program, privatizes Social Security, and only achieves balance by raising taxes on working and middle class families. At the same time, Young has refused to hold himself to the same standard that he expects of Hoosiers. He failed to pay his property taxes on time, and when he did pay, his check bounced. He was also fined $8,670 by the Federal Elections Commission for breaking campaign finance law.

Meanwhile, his Senate campaign has taken missteps since it got on its feet. In February, his Senate bid was almost completely derailed when he failed to gather enough signatures to make it onto the ballot. He was bailed out by a split 2-2 party line vote of the Indiana State Board of Elections.

He was bailed out once again when Mitch McConnell’s Super PAC and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce dumped millions of dollars to flood Indiana airwaves in the weeks leading up to the campaign.

Marlin Stutzman’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Budget

Marlin Stutzman was recently rated as one of the least bipartisan members of Congress for his refusal to work with anyone who doesn’t ascribe to his extremist right-wing ideology. He has voted for the same budgets that Todd Young did in the past, and this year even co- authored his own budget that is far more extreme than the budget proposed by the Republican majority in the House.

Baron Hill’s Record

Throughout his years in elected office, Baron was consistently rated one of the most independent members of Congress. He worked to improve the lives of Hoosiers like his parents. He voted to reform the health care system, expanding access to hundreds of thousand of Hoosiers. In 2008 and 2009, he actively worked to avoid the complete collapse of the U.S. economy. He voted to rescue the auto industry and the jobs that go with it, but voted against the Wall Street bailout. voted for the auto industry bailout and against the Wall Street bailout. He helped pass voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Violence Against Women Act. At the same time, Baron worked across the aisle to pass a fuel efficiency standards bill for the first time in a generation. And he helped author PAYGO legislation to restore much needed fiscal sanity in Washington while voting against budgets that tapped into the Social Security Trust Fund to achieve balance.

Conclusion

Indiana is a state unafraid to vote its conscience and vote its future. While the state is more conservative than its neighbors in the northern Midwest, it has a recent history of electing moderate Democrats, including , U.S. Senator and State Superintendent . In 2008, it even awarded President Obama its 11 Electoral College representatives.

While Indiana’s history as a swing state is enough to give Baron a fighting chance, 2016 is no ordinary presidential year. Voters feel uneasy about the economy, and at the same time, they are deeply displeased with the performance of the Republican-controlled Congress and most political experts predict a Donald Trump nomination will plague down- ballot swing races, like the race. Not to mention Governor Mike Pence’s plummeting approval rating will further drag down an already struggling GOP ticket in Indiana.

The Republican nominee will have to answer for their far-right records, for the abysmal performance of their party in Congress, and for the records of the two men sharing the ticket -- Donald Trump and Mike Pence.