by David Slone, Times-Union
Two Republicans planning to run in the 2018 against Democrat U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly got their names out to the local GOP Thursday at the Lincoln Day Dinner.
Mark Hurt is from Kokomo and Terry Henderson is from Atlanta, Ind. Other potential Republican candidates, according to the South Bend Tribune, include New Albany teacher Andrew Takami, State Sen. Mike Delph, and U.S. Reps. Todd Rokita and Luke Messer.
Hurt announced in February that he was running.
“We were the first ones out of the box, and we announced it at Shapiro’s in Indianapolis and then Coney Island in Fort Wayne,” he said.
He said his reason for running has to do with Donnelly.
“I really believe he needs to be replaced. His voting really typifies more of a New York value system where he grew up. So I want to stay focused, focused on the votes, and try to shed light on those votes,” Hurt said. “I was excited to see him vote for the U.S. Supreme Court justice (Neil Gorsuch).”
As for the big issues he’ll be campaigning on, he said, “I think it’s important on stopping taxpayer funds from going to abortion. I think we need regulatory reform, and (Vice President Mike) Pence and (President Donald) Trump are working hard to do that. Tax reform, I like what I see in President Trump’s proposal. We really need to give the businesses incentives to bring the money back to the United States. They’re keeping it in Ireland and other low-corporate tax cultures.”
He said health care reform also is important and he wants to cut a lot of the bureaucracy out and contain costs. He said he helped create the health savings accounts in the 1990s.
Foreign affairs also are on Hurt’s list.
“I feel like we threw Israel under the bus for about eight years. So I want to help modernize the military. Really work to get more ships, more troops and do better for our veterans. So that’s key in my eyes. Changing the Iranian nuclear agreement is one of the reasons I’m running,” he said.
In his comments to the county Republicans, Henderson said he is not an attorney or career politician but has the knowledge, integrity and real life values to serve.
He said he was a farm kid who came to Indiana in 1990. He and his wife started their own company called Achieva Inc.
Henderson acknowledged that Donnelly will be a tough opponent, but Indiana can do better for its businesses than Donnelly, who is “an attorney turned politician.”
“What Joe Donnelly doesn’t have is that pro-active fire in his belly to make a difference for our good country from a business standpoint. We need that. We need to cut out a lot of the regulation, a lot of the red tape,” he said.
Henderson said the Indiana Business Journal recently called him “Trump on Decaf,” which he will take, but said he was more like former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.
