GOP gubernatorial candidate Brad Chambers returns to Logansport ahead of primary

May 3—In February, five of the six GOP candidates for governor of Indiana met in Cass County for the annual Lincoln Day Dinner, hosted by the Cass County Republicans. While in town, the Pharos-Tribune had the opportunity to sit down with candidate Brad Chambers.

Now, less than a week out from the primary, Chambers returned to Logansport Wednesday to talk about his campaign and plans if elected.

Born and raised in Indiana, Chambers graduated from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. He is the only candidate for governor who has not run for office before, but he recently finished his two-year term as the Secretary of Commerce. Chambers created the 5E vision plan for the state's economic future, and is a founding and board member of the Buckingham Foundation, according to chambersforindiana.com.

How has your campaign been going?

Chambers: We've been crisscrossing the state, [we've] been all over, over 300 stops statewide, meeting Hoosiers and listening to voters and taxpayers, understanding concerns all over the state. So, we feel like we're introducing. I've never run for office before, as you know, I'm new to this, but making sure that voters know who I am and introducing myself.

You've been traveling a lot for your campaign. Are there any places or landmarks that have really stood out to you?

Chambers: That's a great question. You know, I've enjoyed every place, and I've been north, south, east and west. I've really gained an appreciation for how unique Indiana is in every community, right? So, every community's got its own different style and flavor and hopes and dreams and what I've really enjoyed is understanding that more clearly and understanding the full array of Indiana. It's been fun.

Have the residents of Cass County come to you with more issues?

Chambers: No, I think what we talked about when I was here last in February is pretty consistent and quite frankly, it's consistent statewide. It's 'we need to go to work on property taxes' and we're going to do that. We're going to go to work on energy costs, people are concerned about energy costs, continue to grow the economy in all counties, which we've been doing. I did that as Commerce Secretary, but we'll continue to do that. So, keep focused on growing the economy, and addressing rural healthcare is also a big concern that we'd work hard on.

How do you plan to address the issues of property taxes and growing the economy?

Chambers: So, property taxes needs to be reevaluated. It's been a bit... at least over 10 years since the property tax structure's been evaluated. And so, I'd go to work on figuring out how to make sure that our assessment system is more consistent from county to county, that it's more transparent so people understand assessments. Right now, a lot of people just don't understand. And then you take the highs and the lows out of our property tax growth, but you also got to be mindful of the revenue that generates for local communities. So, there's a lot of work to do on property taxes and growing the economy is kind of my specialty. You know, I, as Commerce Secretary, delivered over $50 billion with new development, new investment to the state over two years. And so, I believe there's more to do, but you got to go play to win, you got to go get the economy that's good for Hoosiers, and I proved that I can do that and bring more high wage jobs to Indiana. And I would do exactly what I started to do and that's why I'm running for governor. I was Commerce Secretary for two years, and I need more time to continue to grow the economy.

In Cass County, there's a large population of people from different countries. Has anybody expressed concern to you over the influx of people from foreign countries or any issues that may come with that? What are your thoughts on those issues?

Chambers: [Illegal immigration is] a failure of the current administration. It's a failure of our senators and our congressmen who have not put forth any leadership on the border. There's 10 million people that have come across our border illegally, and that has become now a state problem, right? You know, Eric Holcomb sent down men and women in our guard to protect the border, that's now a cost to our state and it's putting our people at risk. We have illegal immigrants finding their way to Indiana. And so, as governor, I would lobby very, very aggressively with our federal partners to get a resolution to the border to stop illegal immigration. Legal immigrants, and our country is founded on legal immigration, legal immigrants are as frustrated with the illegal immigration as anybody. And so, we've got to get a handle on it. We have fentanyl pouring across the state lines. And in my Protect and Serve public safety plan, we address how we would support local communities on fentanyl. So, in regard to your question, we have got to get a handle on illegal immigration. I would be very strong on that as governor.

If elected, what would be the first thing you would do?

Chambers: Property taxes. That would be the top of the agenda in 2025, building a great team, reevaluating all government infrastructure to make sure it's working efficiently. It's been 20 years since Mitch Daniels was in office. He was the last business guy to be in the governor's office. It's time for a CEO, it's time for someone from outside of government, from outside of politics, to be in charge. And so, property taxes and then making sure that government is efficient and really evaluating every agency of government to do that.

Is there anything else you'd like Cass County readers to know?

Chambers: Second time here, you know, and Cass County's important to our economic future. It's important to our agriculture, our agricultural heritage is front and center in growing the economy. Agriculture touches 85% of our Hoosiers, right? It's 83 to 85% of our economy or our landmass is agriculture, it's either farmland or forest. And so our AG, we have a very proud AG heritage, and we need to continue to grow that and provide resources. Property taxes [are] a big issue for farmers, right? And so, making sure AG is front and center in what we do, dealing with property taxes, making sure that we keep the EPA and we keep some of the larger federal agencies out of Indiana would be something I'd be focused on and that would affect Cass County too. And grow the economy, bring more businesses here, create more startups here, more entrepreneurs, small business owners here.

Any final thoughts on the race before the primary?

Chambers: I would ask if Cass County voters are interested in fresh eyes, if they're interested in a CEO in the governor's office, then I would ask for their support and come out and vote May 7.