Indiana
Indiana governor candidate Q&A: Jamie Reitenour on the issues
Who is Jamie Reitenour: 2024 gubernatorial candidate?
Jamie Reitenour, a 2024 gubernatorial candidate is interviewed on Dec. 8, 2023, at the Indianapolis Star.
Jamie Reitenour admits that for most of her life, she was a conservative voter who felt like she was merely checking boxes.
But the 2016 election piqued her interest in politics. Not long after, the Indianapolis mother of five said, she felt a calling from God to become governor of Indiana. Last year, she said, she felt the calling resurge and decided to act on it.
She has significant ground to cover in terms of name recognition compared to her opponents in the Republican primary, which include Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, former Attorney General Curtis Hill and former Commerce Secretary Brad Chambers. Donald Rainwater is running as a Libertarian and former schools Superintendent Jennifer McCormick as a Democrat.
IndyStar asked Reitenour, as well as the seven other candidates, a set of questions about issues relevant to the 2024 race, some of which were submitted by readers. This interview is edited for length and clarity.
Q: What do you think sets you apart from your competition in the Republican primary?
A: I haven’t been in politics. That’s why people should want me in politics. Because America needs normal people. Not perfect people ― true people. Because the country is in need. And the people are hurting. It’s real. So that’s the biggest difference.
Q: What would be your first priority as governor?
A: I’ve traveled over 13,000 miles in the last two years ― I got started January 2022. And so as I went around, I looked for, where is the most vulnerable place in our state? And what I saw was that education is the area where it is most vulnerable. Our children are vulnerable. Our scores are low. Kids are losing their identity. They’re losing their desire. That’s a big deal ― their vision for life. When you leave, and you have no reason to continue to get a job, when you’ve got half a society that’s just dropping off and saying, who cares? That’s a big deal.
So my head of education, her name is Paige Miller. And she’s a Mom for Liberty. I love that group; they are a wonderful group of people. We bring to the table, desiring that every senior would graduate having completed an apprenticeship. Senior year is a year where they’re not doing a whole lot anyway. We want Indiana to be the training capital of the United States. So we start there, and we very rapidly go around the state. We’ve got great plans for our small towns. We’ve got our eyes on Gary, Indiana.
Q: In many ways today’s Republican Party has factions defined by one’s posture toward Donald Trump. What’s yours?
A: Whether it’s President Trump or Tim Scott or Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis ― if any of those people were in the position that President Trump has been put in, I’d have a problem with it. I don’t believe that what’s happening in our country is fair justice. I think it’s easy to not like a person or blame something on a person’s personality, but I love the law. And there’s a lot to be wanting, in the situation that he finds himself in. In the Bible, in Micah, it says, “What is required of you but to do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly before thy God.” I would just say to anyone in that position, I would want everyone to do justly. And I think that is wanting, so I would direct my comment less to the person and more to the situation.
Q: Do you believe the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump?
A: I believe the 2020 election had an incredible amount of irregularity, and it should have been questioned.
Q: Where do you stand on Indiana’s new abortion law, and what changes to it would you support?
A: I definitely am a person that believes in life at conception, and I’m not an exception person. I’m just, life at conception. I know a lot of babies that people would have said “no” to that are just so beautiful. And our society needs their beauty.
Q: Gun violence is an epidemic in today’s American society. How should Indiana respond?
A: Fatherless homes is an epidemic in our society, and that’s what we need to be addressing. Kids model their examples. They want to be wanted. They want leadership. They want to belong.
The issue is not the item they’re picking up to do violence; the issue is their homes and the brokenness of their homes. There needs to be a wake-up call for the families that have been constantly going to the same well, but the water has run dry, and the solutions are not working. So they need to be looking for something different. My solution to gun violence is education. It’s walking in those streets, looking at those children, going to those high schools.
I’m willing to consider very outside-of-the-box things for schools that are struggling in education. If you’ve got a 10% graduation rate, everything is on the table. We will talk apprenticeships, we will talk early training in freshman year. We will talk all solutions so that kids can get out of this cycle of poverty and violence and broken family and really experience what they were made for.
Q: The 2023 legislative session dealt with culture war topics such as LGBTQ issues and school library books. Where do you stand on those issues?
A: Some of the books they’ve read, the way that they speak in these books are things that I would never let my children hear. So, there was a need for discretion. So I’m happy with the laws that have promoted that discretion and given the boundaries. But it was done for just up to third or fourth grade. It’ll be interesting to see if they stop at third grade or if they continue it for all the grades. I think if it’s good for a third grader, I don’t understand how it cuts off at fourth grade. I think it’ll be an interesting conversation.
Q: Should citizens have a right to collect signatures to put questions on the ballot without legislative approval?
A: Yeah, I think Hoosiers should.
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17.
Indiana
Indiana A.G. finishes Karl King Tower investigation, finalizes compliance order
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WSBT) — The Indiana Attorney General has finished its investigation into Karl King Tower and issued a compliance order.
This is coming after a months-long investigation into the unsafe living conditions for residents at the apartments.
From December 2025 to January 2026, there were prolonged failures with the heating and a lack of heat for residents during winter conditions at Karl King.
The property owner provided a 20% rent credit for affected tenants and documentation related to health and safety issues.
Below is the agreement from the Attorney General:
- The owner must complete boiler and heating system improvements by September 30.
- The property is subject to a monitoring period for multiple years.
- The owner needs to provide on-site security, including cameras in common areas and monthly incident reports.
- The building needs an on-site property manager to address resident concerns.
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
The Attorney General has the authority to inspect the property and enforce compliance if commitments aren’t met.
Indiana
Indiana Baseball Series Preview Against Illinois
It’s been a rough season for the Indiana baseball team, but the Hoosiers have one more shot to finish the season on a high note against Illinois this week.
Indiana (21-30, 7-20) has lost five straight contests and failed to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament after finishing outside the top 12 in the Big Ten, meaning Saturday’s game against the Illini will be the Hoosiers’ last.
And that may very well be the biggest surprise in all of the Big Ten, considering IU won 33+ games each of the last two years and finished above .500 in Big Ten play each of the last three seasons.
About Indiana
Indiana’s disappointing season is almost over after getting swept by in-state rival Purdue over the weekend. IU has lost four straight Big Ten series and hasn’t won a series in nearly a month.
Regardless of who is playing well and who’s not, don’t be surprised if the majority of the seniors get to play this weekend.
That probably wouldn’t be the case if Indiana were still able to qualify for the Big Ten Tourney, but with that out of the equation, expect to see the guys who might not ever play another competitive game of baseball get to see the field one last time.
The Hoosiers’ best pitcher is southpaw Tony Neubeck, who leads the team in wins, starts, innings pitched, and strikeouts. Neubeck has recorded back-to-back quality starts and could very well hear his name called in this June’s MLB Draft.
Offensively, the Hoosiers have proven they can score some runs, and despite getting swept last week, scored 21 runs against Purdue. IU’s top hitter is Jake Hanley, who leads Indiana’s offense in at-bats, hits, home runs, RBIs, total bases, and walks.
About Illinois
Unlike Indiana, no matter what happens this week for Illinois, the Illini are automatically a lock for the Big Ten Tournament. Illinois might rest some of its everyday players who have played a lot and have some of its top arms on pitch counts, but outside of that, expect the Illini to play this series like it’s their last.
Illinois still has a chance to move up a spot in the Big Ten, and there’s no denying the fact that seeding matters.
Illinois (27-23, 13-14) has won five in a row but has struggled on the road this season, especially in Big Ten play.
Still, though, Illinois has a couple of solid relievers — Sam Mommer and Sam Reed — and has an ace in Aidan Flinn.
Offensively, the Illini are inconsistent but did manage to score 26 runs in three games against Northwestern and have a couple of power hitters in AJ Putty and Collin Jennings.
Series Schedule
Thursday, May 14th (6 p.m. ET)
Friday, May 15h (6 p.m. ET)
Saturday, May 16th (2 p.m. ET)
All three games are available to watch via the Big Ten Network Plus (BIG+).
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Indiana
A ‘verbal bouquet’ to Indiana’s health department | OPINION
A colleague at lunch recently proclaimed that my columns are negative, critical, lacking in affirming values. He didn’t use all those words, but I cut him short.
OK, this week, I’m offering a verbal bouquet to the Indiana State Department of Health. I’m presuming that was the agency identified in a text to me from my IU Health Care Team containing a “Full Screening Form” from SDOH.
Of course, I don’t recognize any IU Health Care Team. I do have a physician who practices at one of the ever-expanding IU Health facilities. From time-to-time he sends me on excursions through the labyrinth of departments, labs, or orifices of that serpentine organization. But I know no team.
The “Full Screening Form” from SDOH came in two sections. First I was asked, “In the past year, have you or any family members you live with been unable to get any of the following when it was really needed?” There were five classes of items indicated: Food, Health care or medication, Housing, Transportation for health care or medication, and Utilities.
I presumed I could check any or all of these. But I selected, “No.” An added option was, “I choose not to answer this question.”
In the second section I was asked, “In the past year, have you been afraid or felt unsafe due to the following?” Choices: Partner or ex-partner, Family member or caregiver, Where you live. Once again I answered, “No” and was glad to see, “Choose not to answer.”
I was not able to identify my insecurity driving the bombed-pocked streets of my city.
Here we find our state government expressing concern about our welfare. These are important indicators of well-being and security. Collecting such information, matching with my characteristics which are already on file, and merging those responses into a well-structured, but confidential data base, could provide useful inputs for policy development.
Where did this come from? Is there leftover money from a Biden initiative? Did the Braun administration or the Indiana General Assembly come up with this independently? Is this a state-wide program or just a test exercise to look (excuse the word) progressive?
Whatever the genesis, this is important and noteworthy. Most of us, faced with any of the conditions enumerated, would be hesitant to admit such concerns. But efforts to overcome that reluctance can be beneficial and prevent tragedy. If the data can be used and if useful, are used.
However, if the at-risk population fails to respond, we’re no better off. If the SDOH has no funding to follow-up itself or if local resources are insufficient to do the job, then we’ll know the need and have failed to provide help.
I look forward to the SDOH reporting on the success of this program. If they only notify my doctor of my well-being… I won’t say it. That would be negative.
Mr. Marcus is a research economist formerly with the Kelley School of Business at IU. Contact him at mortonjmarcus@gmail.com. Listen to Morton with John Guy on the podcast Who Gets What? at mortonjohn.libsyn.com
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