Brian Howey

By: Brian A. Howey Last week all seven of Indiana’s congressional Republicans voted for an insurrectionist to become Speaker of the House and second in the presidential line of succession. On Wednesday, they elected U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, who Rep. Matt Gaetz is calling “MAGA Mike.” U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio was defeated on…

By Brian A. Howey The last two American presidential assassinations — coming about 60 years apart — set in motion different yields when it comes to trust in government. When bullets felled President William McKinley in Buffalo in 1901, the subsequent ascension of President Theodore Roosevelt commenced a progressive movement that largely persisted over six…

By BRIAN A. HOWEY I grew up in a city that featured the Peru Amateur Circus. I played trumpet in the circus band, my younger sister was an aerialist. I knew the first human cannonball, W.W. Wilno, and went to school with the granddaughter of famed lion tamer and circus mogul Clyde Beatty. And I…

By BRIAN A. HOWEY As things stand today, former President Donald J. Trump is the prohibitive favorite to win his third Republican presidential nomination next year. He leads the Real Clear Politics national polling composite by a resounding and unprecedented 53%. He leads Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by 33% in Iowa and Nikki Haley by…

By BRIAN A. HOWEY About this time five years ago, Mike Braun was a relatively unknown state rep from Jasper, preparing to take on two sitting congressmen in the Republican U.S. Senate primary. Braun registered about 1% in his initial internal poll. And he won that primary by spending about $5 million of his own…

By BRIAN A. HOWEY Buried deep in the wallet of Shawn Fain is a well-worn pay stub of one of his two grandfathers. It’s a reminder of where the new United Auto Workers president comes from, here in the City of Firsts. Two of his grandparents were General Motor retirees at Kokomo and one worked…

By BRIAN A. HOWEY The relationship between Donald J. Trump and Hoosier Republicans is, well, complicated. Last week, five days before a grand jury in Georgia increased the number of criminal charges for Trump to 91 felonies from 78, the Indiana GOP U.S. Senate frontrunner Jim Banks doubled down. “President Trump endorsed me early in…

By BRIAN A. HOWEY Less than 24 hours before Donald J. Trump was to be “proudly” arrested, booked, finger printed and have his mug shot taken at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta (in primetime!), eight of the Republicans gathered for the Fox News debate in Milwaukee Wednesday night. “We are going to take a…

By BRIAN A. HOWEY Kyle Hupfer has been, arguably, the most successful major party chairman in Indiana history. His Democrat counterpart, Mike Schmuhl, is attempting to get his party back in the game. When it comes to straight tenure, the late Indiana Republican Chairman Gordon Durnil had the helm for eight years under Gov. Robert…

By: Brian A. Howey Indiana is turning into an abortion island. Girded by gerrymandered General Assembly maps, along with an anemic and broke Democrat Party, a year ago Republican super majorities passed and Gov. Eric Holcomb signed some of the most restrictive anti-abortion measures in the United States. But on a single-issue referendum vote on…