Gillim: Jim Buck will always do the right thing

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Dear Editor:

I am in agreement with the letter to the editor published April 8, 2026, regarding the degrading and derogatory campaign being waged against Indiana Senator Jim Buck.

It should be very troubling to all the constituents of Indiana Senate District 21 when vast amounts of money from political action committees outside the State of Indiana are being spent on this local Indiana primary campaign.

There should be no doubt that this smear campaign is being waged against Senator Buck as revenge for his vote against political redistricting of Indiana in 2025 (House Bill 1032).

I applaud Senator Buck for having the ethics, determination, and courage to do the right thing for Indiana when he voted against gerrymandering in our State. The act of changing political boundaries or redistricting should only occur after a census has determined that populations have shifted in ways that warrant the shifting of political boundaries. A new census typically occurs every 10 years since the movements of populations take time. The last U.S census occurred in 2020. Indiana approved new congressional district maps (redistricting) in October of 2021. This means that Indiana wouldn’t normally consider redistricting until after the 2030 census.

It is outrageous to me that a majority of Indiana’s House of Representatives and our Governor were in favor of redrawing the political boundaries of our State after only four years. There was no evidence of significant population shifts to warrant redrawing the boundaries. It was clearly gerrymandering in every sense of the word.

In my mind, Indiana has always tried to be a State, within our great Nation, that prides itself on honesty, integrity, courage, strength, and civility. When voting in the Indiana Republican primary, remind yourself of this pride we hold and of those, like Senator Jim Buck, trying to do the right thing.

Parvin Gillim
Sheridan