With Greg Pence out, 7 Republicans vie for Indy-based 6th Congressional District
When Greg Pence announced in January he would not seek reelection to Congress, Republicans lined up to run for the rare open U.S. House seat.
The candidate pool for the 6th Congressional District, which includes the southern portion of Marion County, features familiar names, current lawmakers and newcomers running for the Republican nomination hoping to head to Washington D.C.
There’s businessman Jefferson Shreve, who ran in 2023 as the Republican nominee for mayor of Indianapolis. There are current faces from the Indiana Statehouse, like state Rep. Mike Speedy and state Sen. Jeff Raatz, plus former lawmakers like John Jacob and Bill Frazier. There are also political newcomers like Richmond businessman Jamison Carrier and Darin Childress.
It’s a pivotal race, as the primary winner is highly likely to be the district’s next congressman. In 2022, Pence defeated Democrat Cynthia Wirth by 35%. Wirth is running unopposed in this year’s Democratic primary and the state’s Libertarian Party nominated former U.S. Senate candidate James Sceniak to run for the seat.
The battle for the Republican nomination is also the first open race for the 6th District seat since Indiana lawmakers adjusted the boundaries of the 6th District in 2021. Redistricting maps added the southern portion of Marion County to the 6th District, meshing the more urban area with the highly rural counties east of Indianapolis. About 25% of all votes cast in 2022 in the general election for the 6th Congressional District came from Marion County.
It will be up to Republican voters to decide at the polls who stands out among the seven candidates and what they want in their next member of Congress, especially at a time when the level of trust in federal lawmakers is low. Will it be legislative experience? Business knowledge? Endorsements? Plans on certain issues? Personal stories? Money?
Misty Dee Hollis, the Republican chairwoman of the 6th Congressional District, has long been involved in Republican politics in the area, from serving as a city councilor in Richmond to helping with constituent services for Pence when he took office in 2019. Hollis said Republicans in the 6th District are concerned about the economy and border security, and a successful candidate will be able to thread the needle between the more rural communities and Indianapolis.
“I think making sure that the candidates are presenting themselves with who has the best policies, who has the best ability to tackle those two issues with their experience and what their background is,” Hollis said, “And doing it representing the Republican platform, is what's going to be important to the voters.”
What will stand out?
In a seven-way Republican primary, it’s a battle in the 6th District over who can gain the most attention of voters and drive them to the polls.
Much of that depends on which campaigns raised enough money to put their names in front of 6th District residents, whether on television, in mailers or signs throughout the area.
The top three fundraisers all gave hefty personal donations to their campaigns: Shreve gave himself $4.5 million, Speedy $1.3 million and Carrier $750,000, according to federal campaign reports for the first months of 2024. Without counting personal donations, Carrier raised the most with $104,000 in donations, followed by Raatz who raised just under $90,000. Speedy raised just under $40,000 while Shreve received just one $500 donation.
But outside of fundraising, it’s not clear what will convince voters, said Mike Wolf, the acting director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics. The candidates are all talking about similar issues, such as border security, the economy and protecting the Second Amendment.
And although it doesn’t seem like much, endorsements could be a key to swaying voters, Wolf said.
“It's not like there's much difference in policies in this district among these candidates,” Wolf said. “So without a clarity of the difference, voters might rely a little bit more on an endorser, who that is.”
There have been some big endorsements in the 6th District. At the end of March, former 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy endorsed Carrier, who has never run for elected office before.
Carrier, a businessman who founded RV company Relentless Dealer Services, also has been endorsed by prominent prosecutors and law enforcement figures in the 6th District, such as Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess and Bartholomew County Sheriff Chris Lane.
The Richmond native has garnered national headlines for his campaign by sharing stories about his stepson, Joey, on the campaign trail. Carrier’s stepson died in 2022 at age 38 from a fentanyl overdose, which he said drives his motivation to secure the southern border.
“I don't want another family to have to go through what we've been through,” Carrier told IndyStar. “There are a lot of things that need to be done. But that is what fuels my passion.”
Shreve recently gained an endorsement from the Indiana Chamber of Commerce's political arm and is the only candidate the organization has endorsed this election cycle so far.
Speedy, who represents the southeast portions of Marion County at the Statehouse, has been endorsed by key Republican groups, including the Indiana Chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the Susan B. Anthony Pro Life America Candidate Fund, the National Association of Home Builders and Indiana Right to Life. (The latter group also endorsed Raatz).
Speedy uses his personal experience and details from his trip to the southern border in February to highlight why he is the right candidate to work on the issue in Congress.
“To my knowledge. I'm the only candidate who actually went to the border,” Speedy said. “I spent two days there interviewing a sheriff and a county executive. I sat down one on one with the people who testify in Congress on the state of our border, so I understand.”
Name ID and money
The candidate who most recently appeared on election ballots is Shreve, who ran for Mayor of Indianapolis last year against Democrat Mayor Joe Hogsett.
The founder of Storage Express donated a record-breaking $13.5 million to his Republican mayoral campaign and took over television and digital airways with campaign ads, but still lost the November election by 20 percentage points. Shreve is on track for another big-spending race, having spent just over $3 million in the first three months of 2024, according to federal campaign finance reports.
The businessman surprised the field by joining the race in February on the last day to file for the election, but said in an email that he’s running for Congress because he believes he can provide "capable, conservative leadership."
Shreve’s campaign declined IndyStar’s requests for a phone call or in-person interview with him about the congressional campaign, saying it was not in the candidate’s best interest ahead of the primary. Shreve responded to emailed questions from IndyStar.
"My combination of civic and business experience — having built a business across the district and beyond — has prepared me to serve my fellow Hoosiers and help solve some of these tough challenges coming out of Washington," Shreve said in an emailed statement.
Shreve has drawn criticism for some of his campaign messaging that shows a shift much further to the right than the policies the candidate shared while running for mayor of Indianapolis.
For example, Shreve introduced a policy in July that called for Indianapolis to be able to set stricter gun control laws, angering some in his Republican base. His campaign website today states that during the mayoral campaign “Shreve was attacked by the left for being pro-gun, pro-Trump and pro-life.”
Shreve responded to a question from IndyStar about that discrepancy and said that he supports the Second Amendment. The challenges of Marion County and the federal government are two different sets of problems, he said in the emailed statement.
“I believe in responsible, lawful gun ownership," Shreve said in his emailed statement. "I’ll defend the Constitution, including every amendment, at the federal level.”
Will the Statehouse experience matter?
In past elections, candidates have relied on Statehouse experience to pave their path to the U.S. House of Representatives. In the current Congressional delegation, Republican U.S. Reps. Jim Banks, Jim Baird, Victoria Spartz and Erin Houchin have experience serving in the Indiana Statehouse.
It’s still possible for the Statehouse candidates in the race to forge that path, especially if they have a strong base in the districts they currently or previously represented, Wolf, of the Downs Center said.
Of the Republicans, Speedy and Raatz are current members of the Indiana General Assembly. Jacob served in the Indiana House until he lost his reelection campaign in 2022 and Bill Frazier served in the Indiana Senate from 1968 to 1970. The Republican Party establishment backed Jacob's opponent during the 2022 May primary and poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into defeating him after Jacob routinely butted heads with House leadership.
During his time in the Statehouse, Jacob drew headlines for controversial social media posts and his no-compromise advocacy for an abortion ban with no exceptions both before Roe v. Wade was overturned and during the 2022 special legislative session. The law, in effect today, does include exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother.
Jacob is aware that he doesn’t have the money his opponents have, and said he is focusing on grassroot support based on how he served in the Statehouse.
“I've not seen anybody politically anywhere in Indiana, and frankly, I would even challenge maybe even across the nation, that has done what I did when I was in office,” Jacob said. “I'm a Christian. So I think that we should be standing for what's right and true.”
Raatz has chaired the Senate’s influential education committee and during the 2024 legislative session helped carry bills aiming to boost the reading proficiency of Hoosier students.
Speedy served on the Indianapolis City County Council as well as in the Statehouse where he has chaired the House’s committee on financial institutions. In the House, Speedy has carried bills to establish a monument for first responders, to pay disabled firefighters and police officers who were injured on the job and to implement stricter punishments for people who distribute revenge pornography.
Speedy told IndyStar that he feels called to serve in Congress and believes he has the right background for the job.
“I bring the right combination of a successful business person, together with both local and legislative experience,” Speedy said. “I have a smaller learning curve and I'm better suited to handle all the gunk that could come at you in DC.”
Early voting has started. Primary Election Day is May 7.
Who is running in the 6th District GOP primary
Jamison Carrier
Occupation: Founder of Relentless Dealer Services
Previous campaign experience: None
Campaign website: carrierforcongress.com
Darin Childress
Occupation: Semi-retired
Previous campaign experience: None
Campaign website: Childress does not have a campaign website yet, but said he can be contacted via email at darinchildress46@yahoo.com.
Bill Frazier
Occupation: Farmer
Previous campaign experience: Former Indiana state senator and former congressional candidate
Campaign website:billfrazierforcongress.com
John Jacob
Occupation: Small business owner
Previous campaign experience: Former Indiana state representative
Campaign website:vote4johnjacob.com
Jeff Raatz
Occupation: Owner of Raatz LLC
Previous campaign experience: Indiana state senator
Campaign website:raatzforcongress.com
Jefferson Shreve
Occupation: Founder of Storage Express
Previous campaign experience: Former Indianapolis City County Council member, former Indianapolis mayoral candidate
Campaign website:shreveforcongress.com
Mike Speedy
Occupation: Small business owner
Previous campaign experience: Indiana state representative, former Indianapolis City County Counc member
Campaign website:friendsformikespeedy.com
Contact IndyStar's state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X@CarloniBrittany.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Greg Pence is retiring. Where will GOP voters take the 6th District?
