Indiana Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick speaks at a forum June 20, 2024, at the Monroe Convention Center.
(Lucas González/WTIU News)
Editor's note: WFYI Statehouse Reporter Brandon Smith contributed to this story, which has been updated.
Indiana Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick says she’s committed to ensuring Micah Beckwith is not the state’s future lieutenant governor.
That was a key point she made Thursday after a forum with three candidates for governor.
McCormick, a former Republican, joined her opponents, Republican U.S. Senator Mike Braun and Libertarian Donald Rainwater, at the event. While the topic of Beckwith’s recent nomination got no discussion during the forum, she criticized Beckwith to WTIU News after the event.
And about two hours after that, she named the person she hopes will be Indiana’s next number-two public official.
McCormick announced her choice as a running mate for lieutenant governor is former Democratic State Rep. Terry Goodin.
McCormick said Goodin displays calmness and civility and has the skills needed to lead. Goodin recently served as State Director for Rural Development with the U-S Department of Agriculture.
Goodin voted in 2011 to ban gay marriage and was a regular vote against abortion access. Now, he says his gay marriage vote was wrong and that the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of abortion rights was an “all-out assault.”
State GOP delegates nominated Beckwith as their pick for the lieutenant governor Saturday over Republican candidate and Braun’s pick, State Rep. Julie McGuire.
Beckwith is a conservative pastor and self-proclaimed Christian nationalist.
McCormick said his beliefs don’t belong in government.
“We can't be represented by Micah Beckwith and Mike Braun; that is not an option for us,” McCormick said. “We can’t have chaos and fear for four to eight years. We have to have a different option.”
Indiana Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick speaks with WTIU News after a gubernatorial candidate forum Thursday at the Monroe Convention Center. (Lucas González/WTIU News)
Beckwith has been criticized for a social media video he made the day after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, in which he said God ordered the assault.
McCormick has called Beckwith’s beliefs extreme and said his nomination reveals divisions within the GOP.
“We've seen the Republican Party turned upside down; their leadership is changing,” she said. “On our end, we've seen an uptick in donations. We've seen an uptick of volunteers, and not just Democratic folks who are willing to help us … Republican folks are willing to help us.”
“I know Hoosiers are really thoughtful,” she said. “They want someone in that’s just going to bring our values and solutions and not look chaotic; not just at that state level that on the national and international level.”
Braun said despite his pick being overlooked, he calls Beckwith a team player and said he’s working with him to consolidate their messaging.
“This is no different than when I ran for Senate,” he said. “While I've been in the Senate, you have a lot of curveballs that don't go exactly the way you might want them to.”
Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun speaks with WFIU/WTIU News after a gubernatorial candidate forum Thursday at the Monroe Convention Center. (Lucas González/WTIU News)
Braun said he chose McGuire for her legislative experience and added she will still be an ally moving forward.
“Micah is going to weave into my freedom and opportunity agenda and is now part of the team,” he said. “The ideas I've got out there to be accessible, entrepreneurial … tackle things like property taxes, high health care costs, getting our education dollars spent more wisely … that's still going to happen anyway, regardless of who the lieutenant governor is.”
McCormick's pick of Goodin as her running mate has caused concern among the Democratic party. McCormick has addressed those concerns, saying, "We are a huge tent ... and in that big tent comes a lot of ideas and a lot of opinions and a lot of big hearts and a lot of big personalities. And just like a family, we will come together."
Delegates at the Democratic state convention July 13will select the party’s candidate for lieutenant governor. Bob Kern and Clif Marsiglio have also filed to run.
