Among the many negative consequences of Republican gerrymandering in Indiana is one that is rarely considered: it has isolated and largely disenfranchised Southern Indiana’s rural voters. I will readily admit that I hadn’t considered that effect; instead, I’ve been focused on the way urban districts have been carved up and wedded to surrounding suburban and rural areas in order to disenfranchise urban voters.
I’ve now been educated.
A regular reader of this blog sent me a press release about an effort called the Indiana Rural Summit, described as a “Nine-Candidate Supergroup Shaking up Southern Indiana Politics for the Better.”
These nine Democratic candidates for the Indiana House have banded together and are taking their demands for legislation benefiting rural voters on the road. The candidates are kicking off a six-stop “event tour” at Jasper’s Strassenfest.
As the release explains:
The Indiana Rural Summit, nine Democratic State House candidates from districts that
represent 24% of Indiana across 22 counties, are rallying around a unified message of hope for
Hoosiers: Rural communities and small towns can have better healthcare, schools, and jobs.
Turning disempowering gerrymandered districts into a secret superpower, they are uniting to
spread this hopeful message to thousands of rural voters, too often left without a choice on the
ballot for state representative due to unopposed races.
“We care about local issues, and our concerns are deeply rooted in our love of family,
community, and the beauty of our region,” says Ryan Still, Monroe County Rural Engagement
Deputy Director and organizer for the Indiana Rural Summit. “The continued policies of
extraction and exploitation from our legislature has left us behind and silenced. Our current state
representatives prioritize corporate lobbyists and outside influencers over Hoosiers. We want
legislators who understand our concerns and refuse to sell us out. We want a state that works
for all of us, not just the wealthy few. We all want to live in communities that thrive.”
The Strassenfest is an annual parade in the town of Jasper, and the Rural Summit candidates will be joined by Gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick and Attorney General candidate Destiny Wells. (The release also promises a performance by “German band Hungry5.”)
“Most of our districts are rural or artificially rural due to gerrymandering, keeping rural voters
isolated, unheard, and desperately misunderstood. Rarely are these voters asked about their
vision for Indiana by those elected to represent them,” explains Michelle Higgs, Indiana Rural
Summit member running for HD 60. (Monroe/Morgan/Johnson Counties). “Rural voters need a
seat at the table.”
The Indiana Rural Summit is using the very cause that isolates communities to unite and give
rural voters both a voice and an option. Unifying gerrymandered districts that share county
overlap, these nine candidates are turning gerrymandering into a regional coalition fighting for
regional solutions to improve rural Hoosiers’ quality of life. These solutions include better access
to comprehensive healthcare, to jobs with livable wages and benefits, to safe and
affordable housing, and to quality public education.
The effort being mounted by the candidates in the Rural Summit is significant for several reasons. It is certainly a welcome sign of life for rural Democrats, but its importance extends far beyond partisan concerns. Participants in the Rural Summit are making a profoundly important point: gerrymandering deprives all citizens–not just urban residents– of adequate representation.
I have previously noted that gerrymandering is by far the most effective form of voter suppression. In districts drawn to be “safe” for one party or another, voters who prefer the “loser” party disproportionately fail to cast their ballots, assuming their votes won’t matter. (Ironically, if all those discouraged folks actually did cast ballots, some of those districts wouldn’t be safe.)
The Rural Summit candidates are focusing on another consequence of those gerrymandered “safe” districts– the people elected from them have no incentive to actually represent their constituents. They assume they will be elected (or re-elected) in any event. Instead, their incentives are to do the bidding of the party bosses–the political figures who hand out plum committee assignments and direct the distribution of campaign dollars received from the special interests that wield enormous influence at Indiana’s statehouse.
As the press release reminds us, Indiana has the lowest voter turnout in the nation. It also has a large slate of unopposed races– currently, 26 House seats are uncontested.
These two facts are connected: The Indiana General Assembly creates voter suppression and
apathy through gerrymandering and blocking ballot initiatives, so they can pass embarrassingly
bad legislation.
The Indiana Rural Summit wants to empower disheartened voters across 22 counties and get them to the polls. Their success would benefit all Hoosiers currently disenfranchised by our legislative overlords.
“The Indiana Rural Summit wants to empower disheartened voters across 22 counties and get them to the polls. Their success would benefit all Hoosiers currently disenfranchised by our legislative overlords.”
Is Indiana important enough to these United States of America for the Indiana Rural Summit to bring Harris and Walz here to spread their exuberance and joy to our rural voters and then throughout the state. The entire state of Indiana’s Democratic voters appear to me to be like those last 3 or 4 squares on the roll of toilet paper, not enough to do the job but all we have. Remember our former Governor Pence was hand-in-hand with Trump when this nation ran out of toilet paper, and Trump wanted to see Pence hung for saving the nation from the MAGAs. The only issue under those two where Indiana equaled other states was our Covid-19 death toll and we weren’t important enough for aid during the Pandemic until the Democratic party moved back into the White House.
Rural or urban; Indiana is at or near the bottom of statistics on all issues statewide. We certainly need something or someones to jar us out of the political doldrums and lethargy throughout this backward state.
JoAnn, toilet paper? Lol, way to go!?!?!?.🤣🚽🧻
Spot on, JoAnn! If the Dems really are wanting a 50 state organization, they might just try driving from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin. They might also drive to Chicago. Seems like a good time for a road trip.
The Democratic party is at a crossroad. They haven’t been this excited in my lifetime. If they are smart, they will use the opportunity to reestablish the party in areas of the country they seem to have forgotten about.
As the press release reminds us, Indiana has the lowest voter turnout in the nation. It also has a large slate of unopposed races– currently, 26 House seats are uncontested.
“These two facts are connected: The Indiana General Assembly creates voter suppression and
apathy through gerrymandering and blocking ballot initiatives, so they can pass embarrassingly
bad legislation.”
I believe this can be the MAGA/GOP Achille’s Heel. They are complacent and overconfident, and vulnerable to a groundswell of grass-roots GOTV efforts. The Indiana Rural Summit is made up of some enthusiastic and accomplished people. Please support them with your time and treasure.
Great piece, Sheila. Will be interesting to see what effect Gov. Walz’s candidacy will have on rural voters. You have to be old to answer this question: does the guy remind you of Wayne Townsend?
Sheila,
Can you explain in further detail (perhaps in a future blog post) this statement copied from today’s post?
“ Instead, their incentives are to do the bidding of the party bosses–the political figures who hand out plum committee assignments and direct the distribution of campaign dollars received from the special interests that wield enormous influence at Indiana’s statehouse.”
Rock on!
I would lose the Star Wars theme music from their website, but I like the LinkTree connection. Like the other D organizations that are working to GOTV, get a TikTok account to target Zoomers. They are the future of Indiana.
The Indiana Rural Summit’s ambitions are also encouraging for saying, “Our current state representatives prioritize corporate lobbyists and outside influencers over Hoosiers.”
The Hoosier GOP serves the donor class in Indiana which does NOT have Hoosier’s interest at heart. Exactly the opposite. Several of those districts down near Evansville are called “Asthma Alley” because of the placement of super-coal burning plants that pollute the air mainly for young kids and the elderly.
The coal plants are owned by Duke Energy and served by Koch Energy, the two biggest donors in Indiana. Those plants serve the Midwest off the backs of Hoosiers because our health is NOT important when stacked up against industry profits. You would think Hoosiers interested in conservation – hunting and fishing – mainly Republicans, would be taking a stand. You can no longer eat the fish and now you can’t eat deer in certain counties.
It’s why I say IDEM is the most corrupt Hoosier agency in the state. And when the wind blows from the South, counties in Central and Northern Indiana have BAD OZONE DAYS. The Weather Channel lumps it into the Air Quality Index.
The GOP has tricked rural Indiana to vote for them while they stab all Hoosiers in the back. In Muncie, the Republican candidates for state and federal offices never attend debates because they don’t have to. Gerrymandering has given them an easy win, so good luck to The Indiana Rural Summit.
At a recent fundraiser for McCormick/Goodin, the candidates (both are former educators) emphasized that public school corporations are often the largest employer in a county. Think about not only the teachers and administrators, but also the support staff, custodians, lunch room staff, aides, bus drivers and grounds maintenance workers. I am sure there are even more when considering the people who deliver goods and services to the corporation.
The effects of consolidation and/or closing public schools in small towns and counties can be devastating.
When we have politicians with little or no interest in addressing the lack of healthcare, jobs and social services in rural Indiana, gerrymandering insures that nothing will get better, only worse, as the super-majority in the General Assembly, the administration and courts are all in debt (in more ways than one) to the power brokers who dump money where they know it will bring the greatest return to them.
I get why so few vote. If you live in a place where there are only unopposed contests, why bother. You have no other option available. As the Professor often states, who get to decide is often the most important question.
The good news is that in state and federal elections, gerrymander is much less impactful, if at all. We can be the deciders!
We must work hard to encourage the complacent, resigned and cynical to get to the polls for this election. It will be hard work but our future and the future of our children, communities, state and country depend on us. Let’s do this!
Here in Georgia a small group has recruited Dems to run in 42 counties where there has been no opposition in the past. There is only a small chance of any winning, but this gets out information and makes the Republicans defend their policies. The hope is to encourage the Democrats living there for this and future elections.
Am so glad the Dems are paying real attention to rural communities. They are so often overlooked.