Governor-elect Mike Braun lays out priorities for Indiana
The morning after Mike Braun celebrated a commanding victory in the governor’s race, he outlined his business plan for leading the Hoosier State.
INDIANAPOLIS — Governor-elect Mike Braun is sharing his vision for Indiana, after winning the office over Democratic challenger Jennifer McCormick.
The morning after the former business owner celebrated a commanding victory in the governor’s race, he outlined his business plan for leading the Hoosier State.
“It’s going to be my vision of being an entrepreneurial governor that’s going to be conservative on the financial side but very entrepreneurial on the problem-fixing side,” Braun told reporters Wednesday.
He called the vision, thanks to supermajorities in the state legislature, a “platter of opportunity.”
Braun said he’ll fill that platter with the kitchen table issues he campaigned on: education and voucher expansion, housing affordability, fixing property taxes and his top concern — health care reform.
“It’s the one that we have the worst results compared to most other states,” Braun said. “If we can get that correct, that will singly be better than what we’ve probably done over many generations of past governors.”
The 70-year-old Braun, who will now leave the U.S. Senate for the Indiana Statehouse, said he’ll take ideas from any constituent and any party. But he said the margin of victory for Republicans on Election Day gives him leverage with the legislature.
In his first 90 days, Braun plans to tackle property taxes and look at every state agency for efficiencies and savings.
“It’s not going to be hard for me and my team to discern whether it needs major overhaul, minor tune-up or it’s working well,” Braun said.
What about Lt. Governor-elect Micah Beckwith’s role? The two were a forced coupling. Beckwith wasn’t Braun’s pick.
And the ultra-conservative pastor and podcaster has focused more on social issues, which Braun said cause division.
But both men say this political pairing works.
“It’s been a benefit, in a way, because it’s kind of brought the party together,” Braun said.
“He’s got the vision. I’ve got the energy and you kind of bring that together and it’s really a dynamic duo,” Beckwith told 13News on Election Night. “We’ve got to cut taxes. We’ve got to get limited government back into play. And I’m looking forward to just helping make him the best governor the nation has.”
“And it’s my job to make sure the full spectrum of what being a Republican is about in this state is,” Braun added, “then we’re going to be focused on the kitchen table issues I’ve been talking about.”
Braun also touched on potential economic development plans during his upcoming administration.
He said he wants to “fertilize” small businesses and homegrown businesses as opposed to focusing only on attracting big corporations.
That comment was clearly a bit of a jab to current Governor Eric Holcomb and the state’s Economic Development Corporation.
