The seven men seeking the Republican nomination for Indiana’s 6th Congressional District agree in part on how to address inflation.
Four candidates think inflation would be reduced by cutting spending or addressing the national debt, while others would be in favor of removing regulations. Three brought up energy and how becoming energy-independent could help.
Candidates seeking the office are Jamison Carrier of Greenwood, Darin Childress of Richmond, Bill Frazier of Muncie, John Jacob of Indianapolis, Jeff Raatz of Richmond, Jefferson Shreve of Indianapolis and Mike Speedy of Indianapolis. The winner of this race will face Columbus Democrat Cinde Wirth in the fall election.
The 6th District includes Hancock County, as well as all or part of Bartholomew, Fayette, Johnson, Henry, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Union and Wayne counties, and the southern townships in Marion County.
The three AIM Media Indiana newspapers covering the district — the Daily Reporter, the Daily Journal in Franklin and The Republic in Columbus — collaborated to interview the seven candidates for a four-part series covering key issues of interest this election season.
Here are their thoughts on inflation, with some editing for length, clarity, grammar and repetition.
Q: Many Americans are concerned about inflation. What can Congress do to lower inflation and help people in this economy?
Carrier: Inflation is an issue that impacts all of us. It’s something that’s one of the top concerns for Hoosiers. Everywhere that we go throughout the district, we hear people talk to us about how it’s impacting them just to go to the grocery store. And if you look at the difference in the cost of groceries from what they were three, four years ago to what they are today, the difference is far more than what our inflation is. It’s even higher than what the reports show as far as how it’s impacted Indiana families. One of the issues that we have is energy. Again, back three, four years ago, we were energy independent and now we’re buying our energy from areas in the world that would not consider us their friend. We have got to be energy independent again, and we do that with, again, I’m all for all American energy … and we need to quit buying our energy from our enemies. And if we do that, it will drive our economy and it will drive down inflation.
Childress: We need to drop interest down so young people can buy homes. I’m lucky I own my home … but there’s a lot of people who can’t get it because interest is high. … If you get fuel and stuff down for prices again, then your transportation will come down because it is cheaper to haul stuff, and then the prices of your products should come down along with that. … Then we need to take the stupid regulations off these companies, that would bring some costs down … then you get more money into people’s pockets. … We need to get a businessperson back in the office. I’m a Trump backer. I like his ways and he would get us back on track because we need somebody to win and run the country like a businessperson.
Frazier: No. 1, we’ve got to address this humongous national debt, and the next thing would be spending cuts. We can’t start kicking the can down the road. We’ve got to start now and get it stopped. A lot of people won’t be happy with that, but it’s necessary. That’s going to get inflation under control. There is an awful lot of wasteful spending in the government. There’s numerous ridiculous programs and studies that should have never been funded, including in the U.S. Department of Education and social welfare programs.
Jacob: No. 1, we need to rein in spending. Inflation and the economy and government spending are all tied. We know that this country has over $33 trillion in debt, and we constantly are overspending. … As a nation, we can continue to lend ourselves, we can farm out debt. But the thing is though, eventually that’s going to catch up with us. We have to start scaling back on our spending. … Now, with the issue of inflation, I take the traditional approach of what the Republican platform promotes and that is that government needs to get out of the way of business. I’m a small business owner, I think that many businesses are affected by government regulation. … We continue to tax at a large pace because the government continues to overspend. The best way for Americans and the economy to flourish is to reduce taxes, to reduce government intervention and regulation, so that businesses can flourish and continue to do what they want to do for their businesses.
Raatz: There are some significant issues beyond just interest rates. Fuel is part of the issue … We’re looking at inflated costs for homes, materials for homes … all the way down to auto and homeowners insurance… We have been through this before as a nation many times, so there’s a way to begin to push this thing down. … We can look at energy. We should be unleashing natural gas in this nation for energy production and looking very closely at nuclear energy production as well. … We have the resources right here in the United States. … There’s a magnitude of some simple things that can change and that’s one of them, and that’s going to take a few years for it to come into play.
Shreve: I share their concerns. The Biden administration’s out-of-control spending cannot continue. We need to rein in the spending to drive down inflation and drive down prices here at home. As a businessman, I grew my company from the ground up and into the largest Indiana self-storage company. Over three decades, I built a talented team. I’ve employed hundreds of Hoosiers. That took steady financial stewardship and the management of a sound budget. I will bring this experience to Congress. I’ll fight for a balanced budget and rein in reckless, giveaway spending that is driving up prices that burden Hoosier families.
Speedy: Control spending. Our spending is out of control. It requires more and more debt, and when you’re printing money, you are inflating it. Nothing is more impactful in a negative way to the middle class, to the working class, than inflation, and that’s a direct result of federal spending. Cutting spending, controlling spending, controlling debt, balancing the budget. I supported the Balanced Budget Amendment. These are all ways that we can control [it]. Controlling immigration can control inflation; securing the border can control inflation. When we’ve increased our country’s size by some say 10 million people, we’ve added (essentially) a whole state in the last three years. That is increased demand for products they have to eat, they have to be housed and that is a tremendous influx of people [who have] put upward pressure on prices. … It has had a ripple effect in our economy.
Editor’s note: According to Factcheck.org and Politifact.org, the U.S. became a net exporter of energy in 2019 and has remained so since, this is a common definition of energy independence. The U.S. is not less energy independent under the Biden administration than under the Trump administration as was asserted above. Additionally, petroleum and oil products were imported into the U.S. by countries that would be considered “enemies” under Trump.
ABOUT THE JOB
U.S. House of Representatives District 6
Term: Two years
Duties: Representatives draft and vote on legislation brought before the U.S. House of Representatives, including matters of the interior, national security and the nation’s budget.
Salary: $174,000 (2023)
THE CARRIER FILE
Name: Jamison E. Carrier
Age: 48
Residence: Greenwood (White River Township)
Family: Wife Kathy; three children
Occupation: Founder/owner, Relentless Dealer Services
Education: Bethel Academy, Richmond; Indiana Wesleyan University
Military service: None
Political experience: First-time candidate
Memberships: National Rifle Association, Grace Assembly of God Church, National Little Britches Rodeo Association
THE CHILDRESS FILE
Name: Darin Childress
Age: 62
Residence: Richmond
Family: three children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren
Occupation: semi-retired, mechanic for the military, trainer for IED convoy training
Education background: Richmond High School, some college
Military service: 14 years in Marines, 20+ years in Army
Political experience: First time candidate
Memberships: Veteran organizations – AMVETS, VFW, Legion Marine Core league, Moose, Eagle and Mason
THE FRAZIER FILE
Name: Bill Frazier
Age: 87
Residence: Muncie
Family: Six children, seven grandchildren
Occupation: Farmer
Education background: BA, Ball State University
Military service: Paratrooper, Sgt. U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division
Political experience: Indiana State Senate, District 14, from 1968 to 1970; Republican nominee for Muncie-area U.S. congressional district in 1976, 1978, 1980 and 1992
Memberships: Chicago Board of Trade, Mid-America Commodity Exchange, Sons of the American Revolution, Disabled American Veterans, Grace Baptist Church of Muncie
THE JACOB FILE
Name: John Jacob
Age: 57
Residence: Indianapolis
Family: Wife Angie; six children; five grandchildren
Occupation: Owner, Vicci Design
Education background: Roncalli High School, Indianapolis; IUPUI
Military service: None
Political experience: Unsuccessfully ran in Indiana Senate District 36 caucus, 2023; Indiana State Representative for District 93, 2020-2022
Memberships: None provided
THE RAATZ FILE
Name: Jeff Raatz
Age: 60
Residence: Richmond
Family: Wife Lisa; two daughters
Occupation: business owner, Raatz LLC
Education background: Baker College of Muskegon, BA in Business; Indiana University, MA in Management
Military service: U.S. Army
Political experience: State Senator for District 27, 2014-present
Memberships: IU East Advisory Board and IU East Business Graduate Program, member; Cross Power Ministries Board, member; Every Child Can Read Board, member
THE SHREVE FILE
Name: Jefferson Shreve
Age: 57
Residence: Perry Township, Indianapolis
Family: Wife Mary, no children
Occupation: Founder of Storage Express
Education background: BA Indiana University, MA University of London, MBA Purdue University
Military service: None
Political experience: Indianapolis City-County Councilor, 2013-2019; GOP nominee for Indianapolis mayor in 2023; IMPD Police Staffing Commission; commissioner on the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission
Memberships: National Chairman and board member of the Indiana University Alumni Association, 2011-2016; Executive Dean’s board member of IU’s College of Arts and Sciences; IUPUI Chancellor’s Board; board and executive committee member of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce
THE SPEEDY FILE
Name: Mike Speedy
Age: 55
Residence: Indianapolis
Family: Wife Amy; three children
Occupation: Real estate developer, American Village Properties LLC
Education background: Loy Norrix High School, Kalamazoo, Michigan; Indiana University School of Business; IU School of Law
Military service: None
Political experience: Indianapolis City-County Council, 2003-2010; Indiana House of Representatives, 2010-present
Memberships: Licensed attorney – Indiana Supreme Court, Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 1354, National Rifle Association, Bargersville Rotary Club, Aspire Johnson County, Johnson County Bourbon Club, Aeronautical Center of Technology, Living Word Bible Church
AIM Media Indiana reporters Noah Crenshaw of the Daily Journal, Lacey Watt of the (Greenfield) Daily Reporter and Andy East of The (Columbus) Republic contributed to this report.
