Micah Beckwith announces unusual bid for lieutenant governor
Micah Beckwith, a socially conservative pastor from Noblesville, announced Monday he’s running for lieutenant governor of Indiana in 2024, breaking with a long-standing tradition of gubernatorial candidates choosing their own running mates.
Beckwith's bid is unconventional. The Republican candidate for that role will be chosen by delegates at the 2024 Indiana GOP state convention and is typically done with input from the Republican nominee for governor. The candidate the delegates choose will be on the ballot in the general election along with the winner of the Republican primary for governor.
"Our way of life is being threatened from within by the woke culture," Beckwith stated in a media release. "Families are suffering due to high inflation and high property taxes. Our children are being radicalized in our schools. And crime is on the rise."
Beckwith, a pastor at Noblesville Campus of Life Church, recently has made headlines by joining the Hamilton East Public Library board, which has been banning books it deems questionable from the teen sections at the Fishers and Noblesville branches. Beckwith also ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for Indiana's 5th Congressional District in 2020 but received almost 13% of the vote.
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He has launched a website for his campaign in which he includes issues such as "education not radicalization for our children", "preserve our Constitutional rights" and "public safety first."
He serves as executive director of Indiana Family Action PAC, co-founder of Indiana Coalition Conservatives, Indiana chairman of U.S. Term Limits, and executive director of Hoosier Leadership Series.
So far, U.S. Senator Mike Braun, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, and former president of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation Eric Doden have announced they are running for the Republican nomination for governor.
When asked which gubernatorial candidate he supports, Beckwith says he would be able to work with any of the candidates. He said he's running because he believes the people deserve a choice and the lieutenant governor should be more than a "ceremonial appointment."
Andy Downs, director emeritus of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics in Fort Wayne, thinks Republican delegates still will consider the choice of the eventual Republican primary winner in the governor's race.
"To be clear, the gubernatorial candidate will absolutely have a say in who their lieutenant governor running mate is," Downs said. "But the governor (candidate) who does that may now be in a position where they have to expend campaign resources within the convention to try and get their person chosen or nominated instead of Beckwith."
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The party insiders who pick candidates at the Republican state convention tend to be among the most conservative in the Indiana GOP, Downs said. In recent years, the delegates have split from the so-called establishment wing of the Indiana Republican party to boost their preferred candidates.
Last year, the delegates balked at Gov. Eric Holcomb's pick for secretary of state, Holli Sullivan, and chose Diego Morales instead. In 2020, the delegates picked Todd Rokita as their nominee for attorney-general.
Elizabeth Bennion, an Indiana University political expert, said Beckwith's run for lieutenant governor is a way for him to push his agenda on culture wars, including LGBTQ rights and the role of diversity in schools, so he can influence the direction of the Indiana Republican party.
"Whether or not he thinks he can win, whether or not this will cause a gubernatorial candidate to invite him to become their pick or endorse him, it is a way to keep this message relevant," Bennion said.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Micah Beckwith announces unusual bid for lieutenant governor