Brian Howey

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…

By BRIAN A. HOWEY After reluctantly coming out of retirement to lead a fledgling nation, in 1796 President George Washington gave up power, which at that point in human history had been unthinkable. In his “Farewell Address” he warned that the preservation of the Union was at the core of nationhood. “We must guard our…

By BRIAN A. HOWEY In April 2022, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced $189 million for 154 Next Level broadband expansion projects, this coming atop a $100 million program in 2019. But on a helicopter flight coming back from Evansville in late June, there was yet another high-five moment. The governor had received word from U.S. Commerce…

By BRIAN A. HOWEY For the past half-century, the state’s two Big 10 universities shared the Indianapolis market with a Frankenstein approach that yielded “IUPUI.” Last month, Indiana and Purdue universities participated in a cordial divorce, with the two universities going their separate ways, albeit while preparing to live across the street from each other…

By BRIAN A. HOWEY When I was a young American – age five – we were guided by the words of a soon-to-be slain president. At his inauguration in 1961, President John F. Kennedy instilled this key concept: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your…