Outgoing State Comptroller Tera Klutz, left, celebrates with her successor Elise Nieshalla Tuesday Nov. 28. Photo by Niki Kelly of Indiana Capital Chronicle.

By Niki Kelly
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANA — Elise Nieshalla held back tears Tuesday as Gov. Eric Holcomb announced her as the next state comptroller.

“In Indiana, we enjoy balanced budgets, low debt, low pension liability, healthy cash reserves and a AAA credit rating. When you compare our fiscal standing with that of our nation, it is a stark contrast,” she said at a Tuesday event in Zionsville.

“With Indiana’s great story of financial stewardship, I am fully on board to write the next chapters for our state in financial responsibility on behalf of Hoosiers.”

Nieshalla will fill the remainder of predecessor Tera Klutz’s term: three years. She left to take an executive position at Gaylor Electric.

Until recently, the office was called the State Auditor’s Office.

“Elise is a dedicated and proven public servant who has committed much of her professional life to bettering her community through service,” Holcomb said. “She has shared her financial expertise to help steer and shape the bright future of Boone County which gives me great confidence she’ll do the same serving Hoosiers as our next state comptroller.”

Nieshalla is no stranger to Indiana government. She is currently president of the Boone County Council and also heads the Indiana County Councils Association.

She labels herself an entrepreneur who oversees a portfolio of real estate investments. This includes acquisitions, financing, improvements, and business management of properties, according to a Boone County biography.

Nieshalla was one of the founding members of the Hoosier Leadership Series and was tasked with overseeing education and tax policy for the program. She is a graduate of the Richard G. Lugar Excellence in Public Service Series and was named 2018 Indiana County Councilor of the Year.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from Oral Roberts University and a master’s degree from Indiana University. Nieshalla and her husband Chris, reside in Zionsville where they raised their four children.

Klutz is the fourth state auditor in a row to resign early. But Nieshalla sidestepped a question on whether the early departures are becoming a problem.

“This is an open door for me and I’m so grateful to walk through it,” she said. “I am looking forward to serving the state of Indiana with the highest standards of fiscal responsibility. And I’m here to serve arms wide open and a heart wide open as well.”

Klutz was appointed in 2017 after then-Auditor Suzanne Crouch was elevated to lieutenant governor. Before Crouch, Dwayne Sawyer lasted only four months before he abruptly quit. And Tim Berry served almost two terms before leaving to chair the Indiana Republican Party.

Both Klutz and Berry were at Tuesday’s event.