To the Editor:
In response to Dec, 7th, 2023 Associated Press story by Isabella Volmert headlined “Indiana judge rules in favor of US Senate candidate seeking GOP nomination.”
The article begins, “An Indiana county judge ruled Thursday a contested state law that stipulates voting requirements for candidates’ party affiliation is unconstitutional, dealing a win to a U.S. Senate hopeful who is seeking to run as a Republican in the primary.” John Rust is that U.S. Senate hopeful.
John Rust should be the next United States Senator from Indiana for the simple fact that he is a proven game-changer before his first step on the Senate floor.
In 2022, I too was a victim of that unconstitutional law when I filed to run in the Democratic Primary in the Sixth Congressional District.
Please remember in 2020, when my home county of Johnson was in the Ninth District, I was on the primary ballot and won nearly 10,000 “Christian Democratic” votes and won Washington County in Southern Indiana.
Yet, because of this unconstitutional law, I and others of both parties were denied our right to affiliate with the party of our choice to which many had a long history of involvement as John Rust has within the Republican Party.
The long arch of justice is sometimes slow but all in God’s time.
To not only win this legal victory but also have the political establishment pay the Rust legal team’s expenses sends a strong message to the legislative and executive branches of state government and truly is the proverbial cherry on top.
John Rust will be the closest person to “Mr. Smith goes to Washington” that Indiana will experience in my lifetime.
Rev. Mark J. Powell
Whiteland
