Editor, Times-Union:
The Constitution of the United States makes the qualifications to be a United States Senator as someone who is at least 30 years of age and a citizen of the United States for at least nine years. However, the State of Indiana decided that those qualifications alone are not good enough and passed a law saying that candidates must have voted in the last two party primaries to run for that particular party, unless a party chair signs off on their affiliation. When did Indiana decide that the Constitution was not good enough to determine who can run for office?
Now this is not an endorsement of John Rush, the businessman who is trying to run in the Republican Primary for Senate. I do not know the guy enough to make that determination. But he should be allowed to make his case to Republican voters as he meets the Constitutional requirements to run for office. It seems that the State Republican Party is more interested in making sure that their preferred candidates make the election instead of actually letting the people decide. This is the same Republican Party who pushed to have Todd Young still be on the ballot despite not having enough signatures in a congressional district to qualify — and that requirement is also unconstitutional. So, the state party is willing to break the rules when it suits their interests. Which is strange because the Republican Party Platform says that they want to be a party for all. What they mean is they want to be a party for all — if we like you. How can any Republican voter believe that the party is looking out for the average voter, if they’re not letting the people decide who should be the Republican candidate for any office?
Is John Rust a good candidate for Senate? I do not know; I do not know him well enough to make that determination. John Rust has made some questionable decisions in some of his business ventures. But the State Party endorsed option is a person who claims they are a conservative Republican when they are back in the district, but will go to Washington and vote for more spending for unconstitutional federal agencies, where the state party says they want Washington to limit spending. We have a candidate who claims to support the Second Amendment, but while in D.C. voted for gun control legislation, not once, but twice. We have a State Party endorsed candidate who claims they support free and fair elections, but is supportive of the lawsuit to keep a potential opponent off the ballot.
Again, this is not supporting John Rust for Senate, but he should have the chance to make his case to Republican voters if he is worthy of being the Republican candidate and the voters decide, not the party bosses. Republicans are supposed to be above the machine politics that would make Boss Tweed proud.
Gary Eppenbaugh
Warsaw