V26, N35 Tuesday, May 11, 2021 How police reforms passed without dissent passage in the House Rep. Steuerwald began and 49-0 in the Sen- ate on its way to talks soon after George Gov. Eric Holcomb’s signature. “I think it Floyd’s murder; went through every HEA1006 passed committee, Senate Appropriations, on the unanimously floor in the Senate, House Criminal Code, By BRIAN A. HOWEY Ways & Means and DANVILLE, Ind. – “Unbeliev- the floor without a able.” State Rep. Greg Steuerwald had single negative vote. to search for his words in describing “That’s unbe- House and Senate final floor votes lievable,” the Avon on HEA1006, Republican repeated. poised to “I also think it’s a be the most testament to Indiana, impactful law to members of the enforcement General Assembly, to law since a (State Rep.) Robin Minneapolis Shackleford and the cop spent nine minutes kneeing the Black Legislative Cau- life out of George Floyd. cus. “I’m not sure what word to use,” Steuerwald said in his law office last week to describe HEA1006’s 96-0 Continued on page 3 Storm clouds for INGOP By CRAIG DUNN CARMEL – There’s a storm cloud rising in Indiana Republican politics and we may get an ugly glimpse of it in the coming year leading up to the 2022 and 2024 elec- tions. Perhaps it is because of an embarrassment of wealth “This bill is a check and balance. and the inevitable expansion of the Republican base, but There have been weaknesses re- overwhelming success many vealed by this pandemic. SEA5 times breeds discontent when the party’s leadership does not addresses those head-on.” move party and public policy at - State Sen. Chris Garten, defend- the same speed and direction demanded by its new activists. ing SEA5 after it was vetoed by In my mind there are Gov. Holcomb. It was over- four types of Republicans: Fully committed Republicans who do riden 59-30 in the House and the hard work of the party and who support our candidates 36-10 in the Senate. Page 2 Howey Politics Indiana WWWHowey Media, LLC c/o Business Office PO Box 6553 Kokomo, IN, 46904 www.howeypolitics.com Brian A. Howey, Publisher Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington whether we agree with them 100% or its inception, the party has leaned to Mary Lou Howey, Editor not; casual Republicans who lean in the conservative perspective since the direction of the party but need to the 1964 Goldwater beating. Susan E. Howey, Editor be courted and cajoled into contribut- It is a pretty safe bet to ing time, money or even turning out say that there aren’t many liber- Subscriptions to vote; opportunistic Republicans, als calling themselves Republicans, HPI, HPI Daily Wire $599 who for personal benefit seek office or and the moderates are normally HPI Weekly, $350 party leadership because it’s just darn bifurcated philosophically between Lisa Hounchell, Account Manager difficult to be a Democrat in Indi- economic and social perspectives. It (765) 452-3936 telephone ana; finally, those true believers who is an uneasy and tense relationship (765) 452-3973 fax have a political philosophy that they that brings Republicans together in [email protected] attempt to use the Republican Party a common goal at election time. On for purposes of spreading it to the Election Day, we normally set our masses. differences aside and vote for the Contact HPI On Election Day or during party that most nearly represents our [email protected] the election marathon that politics has individual interests. We rarely regis- Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 now become, each of these groups ter our philosophical differences by Washington: 202.256.5822 adds votes to the bottom line, so all voting for the Democrats. are critical to the Republican political The worst we may do when Business Office: 765.452.3936 dominance in Indiana. The marriage we are angry is not vote for a par- of these four groups has led to many ticular office or just stay at home. © 2021, Howey Politics successful outcomes, yet, at times, it The battle currently Indiana. All rights reserved. has been a bumpy and troubled mar- brewing in the Republican Party is Photocopying, Internet forward- riage. between traditional organizational In the last 20 years the Republicans and a hodgepodge of ing, faxing or reproducing in any Republican Party has witnessed a religious conservatives, libertarians form, whole or part, is a violation percolating power struggle at times and Trump acolytes. We got a view of federal law without permission between its conservative religious of this struggle during the 2020 from the publisher. base, the Ron Paul libertarian move- gubernatorial election when we saw ment, Tea Party revolution and the an immensely popular Republican Trump wave. The Republican Party, governor, Eric Holcomb, vilified as a Jack E. Howey which was formed in a tiny school- tyrant for introducing pandemic regu- editor emeritus house in Ripon, Wisconsin, in 1954, is lations and labeled a RINO (Republi- 1926-2019 a slowly evolving organization whose can in Name Only) for not supporting organizational objectives have greatly draconian legislation demanded by changed over time. This is true of the social conservatives. This fight could Democratic Party also. have had severely negative outcomes The Republican Party has had it not been for the almost com- been given up for dead many times plete absence of Indiana Democrats. along its illustrious history, only to Holcomb romped to a big victory rise like a phoenix when it was least bolstered by many a Democrat vote. expected. Radically transformative at The 2020 election witnessed Page 3 unconscionable acts of political treason, as some Republi- The rebels were successful in that convention can office holders openly endorsed the Libertarian can- battle and the same forces could butt heads again in 2022. didate instead of their own party’s nominee for governor. It is a difficult task to reconcile the need to expand Most notable in this treasonous conduct was State Rep. the Republican tent as much as possible with the need to Jim Lucas, who along with State Reps. Curt Nisly and John speak with a coherent concise philosophy. Party growth Jacob sowed discord amongst the electorate. inevitably leads to philosophical differences. In the Indiana This electoral revolt spilled over into the legisla- GOP, economic and national defense conservatives who are tive session as both Indiana House and Senate leader- socially moderate must sometimes mesh with social conser- ship could not stop attempts by its most conservative and vatives who may or may not care one hoot about budget- reactionary members to deliver a political black eye to Gov. ary constraints or the number of aircraft carriers. Holcomb by passing an obviously unconstitutional legisla- Libertarian Republicans must play nice with those tive effort to strip him of his emergency powers by allow- who would restrict the personal behaviors of Republicans ing the legislature to call itself into special session. This on reproductive issues or on matters of marital choice. It Cromwellian gesture will be resolved bloodlessly, but it is makes for lots of interesting organizational dynamics and an indication that trouble is brewing. leaves party leadership juggling quite a few bowling pins at The next year will witness two battlegrounds in the same time. the fight for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. Republicans are learning a very harsh lesson The Indiana legislature, without the time-consuming task about what happens when we fail to work for a common of passing a biennial budget, will be free to wander off goal and allow sideshow issues to keep us from presenting into the weeds looking for ways to promote a myriad of a unified voting front. We end up with a president who is philosophies, some quite extreme and at loggerheads with attacking every last issue and institution that Republicans our governor. hold dear. I believe next year will also see some political Indiana Republicans need to make sure that intra- blood spilled at the GOP State Convention. We’ll see some party political issues do not spill over into our future elec- contested races and their outcomes will be decided largely tions and help to dismantle what we have worked so hard based on who backs whom. I look for the kind of battles to build over the last 16 years. To gently mangle what Gov. we witnessed during the 2008 convention when Ron Paul Mitch Daniels once said, “We cannot let perfect become the activists expressed their displeasure with the GOP es- enemy of the good.” v tablishment by backing attorney general candidate Greg Zoeller over Jon Costas, who was supported by Gov. Mitch Dunn is the former chairman of the Howard County Daniels and a host of Republican illuminati. Republican Party. grants for the minority of Indiana cities, towns and coun- Steuerwald, from page 1 ties that have yet to outfit their cops with body and car While Steuerwald hadn’t watched the entire nine- cameras. And there was widespread support for identify- minute video of the George Floyd murder on Memorial ing and taking action against the rogue cop, or, using the Day 2020, he was well aware of the social impacts, which terminology of the groups involved, the “wandering officer.” included civil disturbances in downtown Indianapolis and What Steuerwald made clear from the beginning Fort Wayne. He began reaching out to law enforcement was what he would not include: Banning chokeholds, no- groups and Rep. Shackl- eford and State Sen. Eddie Melton last summer. “I told them early on what we were focused on, and I told them what we aren’t going to do, and to a person, the response was ‘How can we get this done?’” On the “can do” side of the ledger were revising de-escalation training at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, as well as providing matching Page 4 knock warrants, and “I will not change anything dealing “I can’t give enough credit to law enforcement, with qualified immunity.” and I can’t give enough credit to the Black Caucus, too.