Republican Gubernatorial candidate and current Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch answers a question during a Gubernatorial Candidate Forum as part or the Greater Columbus Economic Development Corporation’s annual meeting at The Commons in Columbus on Dec. 8, 2023.
Mike Wolanin | The (Columbus) Republic
Editor’s note: This is the final of six profiles of gubernatorial candidates by the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
With three decades of political experience under her belt, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch is not only proud of her public service but ready to take on a new challenge in a campaign to succeed Gov. Eric Holcomb.
That time spent in elected office — from the county level to state legislative and executive branches — has given her the tools, she said, to not only dream up a vision for Indiana’s future but also to execute it.
“I really believe God puts us in places for a reason,” Crouch said. “(The governorship) is nothing I really ever thought about when I was in local government … (I) didn’t even think that when I was a state representative or auditor of the state.”
“But there’s a reason my life has taken this direction,” she continued. “All I can do is what I can do. And I may be outspent three to one but I ain’t going to be outworked.”
Crouch is one of six Republican candidates for governor, including: U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, businessmen Brad Chambers and Eric Doden, former Attorney General Curtis Hill and Jamie Reitenour.
The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Jennifer McCormick, who doesn’t have a primary challenger, and Libertarian Donald Rainwater, who was nominated in a private convention.
Early voting started earlier this month and continues until Election Day on May 7.
Helping the less fortunate
Crouch described a childhood and early adulthood more focused on helping “the voiceless” rather than politics.
“I used to be kind of an independent voter or I’d go in and vote for all the women,” Crouch said. “Maybe it was the way I was raised. I always have believed that we have a responsibility to help those less fortunate.”
She said that disconnect changed during Ronald Reagan’s campaign and presidency, when she started to see politics and government as a way to “make a difference.” After winning her first elected office as Vanderburgh County Auditor in 1994, Crouch went on to become county commissioner in 2002 and won a House race in 2005.
In 2014, she was appointed auditor by former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and, under Gov. Eric Holcomb, became the state’s lieutenant governor.
“I will say local government is more about the meat and potatoes. Very important issues that affect everyday Hoosiers. When you get into the legislature, you’re dealing more with policy,” Crouch said.
But policy was where she said she could improve the livelihoods of disabled or elderly Hoosiers and their loved ones. For example, when the state moved to online applications for benefits she said she pushed to preserve hard copy systems to help those who didn’t yet have access to computers.
Crouch has repeatedly identified poor mental health — and an accompanying lack of resources — as one of the state’s biggest challenges, prompting her to be open about her own family’s struggles with suicide and addiction.
“There were bad things that came from COVID but there were some good things. One of the bad things is we all suffered a mental health crisis. One of the good things is we all suffered a mental health crisis,” Crouch said. “So there became more of an awareness and a sense of urgency to do something.”
Though she serves as Senate President, she rarely advocates on behalf of specific bills — with the notable exception of a 2023 proposal to lay the groundwork for the state’s 988 system, designed to be a mental health call center for Hoosiers.
In her role, Crouch spearheads a disabilities task force and co-chairs the Indiana Mental Health Roundtable. When the Family and Social Services Administration announced changes to the state’s attendant care program for parents of disabled children, Crouch repeatedly urged the department to reconsider and criticized leaders for not releasing key details about the number affected.
But Crouch’s advocacy has put her at odds with the Holcomb administration, under which she serves. Recently, the gubernatorial candidate released an advertisement calling for an audit of the Family and Social Services Administration and criticizing the agency — an awkward position for a sitting lieutenant governor.
“It is awkward but at the end of the day you have to do what’s right,” Crouch said. “I’ve always wanted to be a voice for the voiceless, for people that have no one standing up for them and people that can’t afford the high-power, highly paid lobbyists that roam the hallways at the Statehouse.”
The first major challenge for Indiana’s next governor will be crafting a two-year budget during the 2025 legislative session. By law, Indiana’s budget must be balanced and Crouch noted that the state’s Medicaid problems aren’t just limited to disabled children.
By 2030, an estimated 20% of Indiana’s population will be at retirement age and this summer the state will unveil a mammoth transition to managed care. Medicaid alone is the fastest-growing portion of the budget and Crouch said the population served is growing.
“We have to look at how we adjust and how we are sure that we have monies to be able … to meet these growing needs and these growing populations. That’s kind of our responsibility,” Crouch said.
She said savings could be identified through modernizing state agencies accompanied with independent audits of major agencies, noting that Iowa had undergone a similar process a few years ago.
Working with local elected officials
One of Crouch’s campaign tactics has been to seek endorsements from local officeholders — both past and present — reporting more than 175 such endorsements as of Thursday. That group includes more than two dozen sheriffs, at least 32 state legislators and even Indiana’s oldest World War II veteran.
“I can’t get out and meet every single Hoosier in the state of Indiana and every single Republican primary voter … I can’t meet everyone in Howard County but people in Howard County know Rep. Mike Karickhoff,” she said, knowing one recent endorsement as an example.
She said that as a visible politician in her hometown in Vanderburgh County, people would ask her about other elections because she was accessible.
“People gravitate to the people that are in the know, the people that are in the trenches,” Crouch said. “So when one of these local experts say, ‘Suzanne Crouch is the one that’s important to me,’ that means something to those people. We hope that translates into votes and I believe it will.”
Going into the final weeks, Crouch has the most money reserved but has spent her campaign funds at a slower pace than other contenders.
She urged future state projects to better engage local officials, who often bear the brunt of criticism for state decisions and are held accountable by their constituents — whether at church and in the grocery store.
The $225 million program to bolster the state’s public health system was “the right approach,” she said, because it was voluntary but incentivized localities to improve their own health metrics.
“I think if we can do as much of that as possible, everyone will benefit more …People don’t respond well when government dictates. And they shouldn’t. Because it’s their government,” Crouch said.
For decades, the lieutenant governor position was seen as sort of an “heir apparent” to the governorship — a position Holcomb himself held under former Gov. Mike Pence.
But that seems to have skipped over Crouch, with several polls instead favoring Braun and a large sect of voters still undecided. She dismissed the polling, saying it was something that central Indiana’s politicos followed closely.
Part of the attraction of the governor’s office, she said, is because “our state is thriving.”
“We have challenges but we have a sound economic foundation to be able to start addressing those challenges. When I was in local government from ‘95 to 2005 … the state was not in a good position,” Crouch said.
Now, the state consistently ranks high as a place to start a new business for its friendly tax structure.
“People want to be a part of that and they want to lead that forward into the future and that’s why we have so many people running for governor,” Crouch said. “So I’m not so sure it’s as much of an ‘heir apparent’ … as much as (that) we are in good shape and people know there are real opportunities to move Indiana forward.
“People want to be leading that effort,” she concluded.
By Whitney Downard – The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
