Downtown Warsaw was the second of four stops Saturday for the Indiana GOP “Freedom and Opportunity” bus tour.
Candidates rallied the 60 to 75 people in attendance to not only get out and vote but to also encourage their Republican friends to not be complacent and vote. They took their 22 minutes of combined speech time to briefly hit on fiscal responsibility, electing Donald Trump to the White House again, government overreach, education and transgender people, too.
After a prayer by Frank Rhoades and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Kosciusko County Sheriff Jim Smith, Indiana GOP Chairman Randy Head spoke first.

    Indiana Comptroller Elise Nieshalla and Attorney General Todd Rokita greet the public at Saturday’s GOP “Freedom and Opportunity” Bus Tour stop downtown Warsaw. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

“There are a lot of counties like Kosciusko County all over Indiana today in that we’re having success problems, meaning Democrats don’t want to run for local office anymore. So congratulations to you for the fantastic job that you’ve done,” Head said. “But that problem brings up an issue for us. A lot of Republicans in those counties say they don’t need to vote, right? ‘There are no Democrats on the ballot locally. We’re a deep red state. Trump’s going to win. Braun’s going to win. Whatever. Someone else will take care of it.’ And that’s where they’re wrong.”
He said the GOP needs Kosciusko County to stand up and help take care of it.
“We can’t wait for other people. We need Republicans to turn out. We need Republicans to vote and vote early. You can vote early, you can vote by absentee, you can bank your vote before November 5 so that we know your vote is being counted and your voice is being heard,” Head said.
Indiana State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla said it’s good to be a Hoosier.
“Because we live in a state that is fiscally responsible. We have low debt, healthy pension funds. We have balanced budgets, how about that? We have a healthy cash reserve, and we earned the highest credit rating you can get - a Triple A - from all three independent credit rating agencies,” she said.

    U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, the Republican candidate for Indiana governor, was the final speaker at Saturday’s GOP “Freedom and Opportunity” Bus Tour stop in downtown Warsaw. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

To make America like Indiana, she said voters need to send Rudy Yakym, District 2 U.S. representative, and Marlin Stutzman, District 3 U.S. representative candidate, back to Washington, D.C.
In his comments, Yakym stated, “We want Donald Trump to be the first president on the board for Indiana. Indiana has got to turn out and vote and be the first on the board for Donald Trump. And it doesn’t happen unless we get Kosciusko County out to vote. We are so fortunate to have a great ticket here in Indiana. We’ve got to be leading from here and it starts with electing Jim Banks as our next U.S. senator, it continues on with making sure we elect Mike Braun as our next governor and Micah Beckwith as our next lieutenant governor.”
Banks was not present at the Warsaw bus tour stop.
Yakym continued, “We need partners in Washington, D.C., like Marlin Stutzman, who will help us do what we need to do, which is to secure the southern border once and for all. We also need people, like my good friend Todd Rokita, who wakes up every day and thinks about how do push back and fight against federal government overreach. And when the federal government is overreaching as they always do under the Biden-Harris administration, it’s people like Todd Rokita who are fighting back.”
Taking the microphone, Stutzman reminded everyone that he represented all of Kosciusko County at one point. He represented Indiana's 3rd congressional district from 2010 to 2017.
“Kosciusko County is the most Republican county in the state,” he said, to cheers. “There’s so many Republicans in Kosciusko County that I used to have the entire county in the 3rd district. Now it needs two representatives, and it takes Rudy and I to lift the weight, and we’re happy to do it.”
Stutzman stated this election is critical.

U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, District 2, speaks at Saturday morning’s GOP event downtown Warsaw. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union

“We can not afford four years of Kamala Harris. We can not afford a Senate that is controlled by Chuck Schumer. It’s time to fire Chuck Schumer as the leader of the Senate. And it’s also time we’ve got to hold the House. Rudy has been working tirelessly to help other candidates across the state, across the country to hold the House. Folks, we know how critical this is in this election,” he said.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said before he got off the tour bus he was just looking at a video of Kamala Harris at a rally in Michigan.
“They were talking about their favorite topic - abortion. And someone in the crowd said, ‘Jesus is Lord.’ And she immediately said, ‘You’re at the wrong rally.’ That’s what we’re up against, guys. That’s what’s going on here. The choices couldn’t be more clearer, the contrast couldn’t be greater, and therefore the choice couldn’t be easier,” he said, calling the Nov. 5 general election one of the most “consequential elections of our time.”
Beckwith warned Republicans not to let the Left gaslight them into thinking they’re the minority and lack common sense.
“I was talking to a lady, she’s in the Democrat party, a few weeks ago. She came up to me, she said, ‘Micah, you’re way too extreme. You’re way too extreme.’ I said, ‘How so?’”
She didn’t have any specifics, but she told him she didn’t like his rhetoric. Beckwith wanted specifics.

    Marlin Stutzman, Republican candidate for U.S. House of Representatives District 3, speaks to the 60-75 people gathered in front of the Kosciusko County Republican Party headquarters Saturday afternoon. Sitting behind him (L to R) are U.S. Senator and Indiana governor candidate Mike Braun; Indiana lieutenant governor candidate Pastor Micah Beckwith, Indiana Republican Party Chairman Randy Head, District 2 U.S. Congressman Rudy Yakym, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, Indiana Comptroller Elise Nieshalla and Indiana District 22 state Rep. Craig Snow. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

“I said, ‘Excuse, ma’am, you’re aligned with the party that is saying boys should be able to use girls’ restrooms. You’re aligned with the party that’s saying biological men should be able to compete in women’s sports. You’re aligned with the party that says open borders actually work and are good for our nation.’ I said, ‘Excuse me, I’ve not changed my thoughts or opinions or policy positions for 25 years. How did I get extreme all of a sudden?’”
He said his positions are common sense and Republicans are the party of common sense.
“I’m sorry that you just happen to not know common sense. She said, ‘Well, I still think you’re too extreme.’ And that conversation has been sort of resonating in my mind. That’s what they try to do. They try to say we are the party of extreme. We are not. We’re the party of common sense,” Beckwith said. “Common sense means limited government. Common sense means parental choice when it comes to education. Common sense means that we’re going to make sure that we create a business environment that’s strong for small businesses, cut regulation, cut taxes and guess what? It works. It’s not rocket science, it’s common sense.”
As the last speaker, Braun took his time to “define what we’re up against.”
He said, “We can not underestimate what we’re really up against, and that’s the other side of the aisle that outfunds us, they have values that don’t make sense, they’re not for freedom and opportunity. They’re for growing government, and I’ve been there the last six years. Rudy’s been there, Marlin’s going back. Todd’s been there. Their dream is to grow the business of government and they worship it accordingly. We do not want that coming to Indiana.”

    Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita speaks at the GOP “Freedom and Opportunity” Bus Tour stop downtown Warsaw on Saturday. Pictured (L to R) behind him are Indiana Republican Party Chairman Randy Head, U.S. House of Representatives District 3 candidate Marlin Stutzman, Indiana Comptroller Elise Nieshalla and Indiana District 22 state Rep. Craig Snow. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

Braun said when the Democratic party switched President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris for their presidential candidate, that sounded like they were tampering with democracy.
“They put nothing aside to make sure they end up accomplishing their goals because when you have a government that is like your cathedral and growth business wrapped into one, that’s a passion that they bring to it,” he said. “We’re going to have our hands full trying to turn that ship around. Sooner or later, it will, but when you talk about freedom and opportunity, you talk about education - which is the most important thing our state government does - we don’t want that run by the Department of Education from the federal government. We want it run by the parents of our state that should be directing how their kids are going to be educated. And with a governor and representatives and senators that are listening to them.”
Choice and competition need to drive education, he said.
Afterward, a private meet-and-greet between the candidates and the public took place in front of the Kosciusko GOP headquarters. Candidates did not take questions or interviews with the media.

    Indiana lieutenant governor candidate Pastor Micah Beckwith speaks against transgender people during the Warsaw stop of the GOP “Freedom and Opportunity” Bus Tour. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union