Jessica Bailey elected as Indiana’s next Comptroller

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Jessica Bailey has been elected Indiana’s next State Comptroller, winning 943,508 votes (49.1 percent) to Elise Nieshalla’s 923,115 votes (48 percent). Nieshalla called Bailey Wednesday morning to concede.

Bailey released the following statement:

This morning Elise Nieshalla called me, and I want to start by thanking her for that call and for her years of service to this state. Races this close are hard on everyone involved, and it takes grace to make a call like that. I meant it when I told her I respect her for it.

I got into this race because I know government works better when people can see what it’s doing. That’s the lesson I learned from six years on a school board and eight years as Porter County Clerk. And as I traveled the state, I heard from countless Hoosiers who were simply frustrated that too much governing is happening behind closed doors, where special interests and insiders call the shots and regular residents are shut out.

With this historic victory – the first time a Democrat has won this seat in 40 years – Hoosiers are sending a very clear message: It’s time to let the light in.

I am committed to providing the accountable and transparent government Hoosiers deserve. The State Board of Finance will not run three-minute meetings with no questions and only unanimous votes while I hold a seat on it. The Transparency Portal is going to get rebuilt so a Hoosier who wants to know where their tax dollars go can actually find a clear answer. Every exemption, every transfer, every big request is going to get asked about in public because that is what the public is owed.

To my husband Tom, to my kids, to my family who put up with a campaign schedule that asked more of them than I had any right to ask, thank you. To the volunteers, the union members, the small donors who gave what they could and the team who believed in this before I fully let myself believe it, I appreciate you and will continue to rely on you as we chart a new course for the Comptroller’s Office.

Now is the time for us to restore checks and balances and I intend to spend every day of this term making sure our government works for us.

Thank you, Indiana. Let’s get to work.