Dear Editor,

One thing I have learned in my study of politics is that you can tell a lot about a person by how they vote.

However, I have learned that a better way to learn about a politician is by who donates to them. And the Indy Establishment candidate for House District 22 is funded by the Indy Swamp. The House Republican Campaign Committee donated over $214,900 to the Indy Establishment Candidate.

The House Republican Campaign Committee is a giant pool of money. Republican candidates are “expected” to take some of their donations and send it to the HRCC. The idea is that in a general election, the HRCC floods Republicans with money to help them get elected.

However, the way they ask for money is more like a demand. HRCC payments help get leadership positions and preferred committee assignments.

This is not a campaign war chest. The HRCC is a slush fund. And the Indy Establishment is using it to fund the Indy Establishment candidate.

That should tell you that he has no interest to do what his local constituents would want him to do. If elected, he will be a spokesman for the Indy Establishment. And the Indy Candidate wants to do their bidding badly as he already donated to the HRCC.

Curt Nisly on the other hand owes nothing to the HRCC because he knows that the Indy Establishment would rather have the members of the Republican Caucus represent the interests of the Indy Establishment.

Over the past few years, the Indy Establishment has not tried to ban abortion. They acted cautiously over our gun rights and only made good moves in election years. Curt Nisly authored Constitutional Carry legislation for years but had a caucus member who donated to the HRCC write the bill. The Indy Establishment also raised our gas taxes.

The Indy Establishment is so upset that they are using the HRCC to “donate” over $1.2 million to incumbent Republicans that are in a primary against another Republican challenger. This is the first time that I am aware of that the Indy Establishment is taking sides in a primary against Republicans.

The Indy Slush fund has spent over $800,000 on two candidates. Like I said earlier, they spent $214,900 on the Indy Establishment candidate to oust Curt Nisly. The Indy Establishment is spending over $600,000 to try to oust John Jacob, and his opponent has not held office.

Remember, the salary for a member of the General Assembly averages less than $22,000 per year. And the Indy Establishment is willing to spend 10 times that much to keep one of theirs in power.

Do you think the Indy Establishment candidates are going to listen to us? Here in District 22, we had someone who said they were a representative, but instead listened to “experts” and the leadership. We do not want that again. Show the Indy Establishment that we want representatives and support Curt Nisly.

Gary D. Eppenbaugh
Warsaw