Westfield resident urges readers to support a new voice for State Senate

Letters to the Editor do not reflect the opinions of The Reporter, its publisher or its staff. You can submit your own Letter to the Editor by email to News@ReadTheReporter.com. Please include your phone number and city of residence. The Reporter will publish one letter per person per week.

Dear Editor:

I am a resident and a voter in Indiana State Senate District 21. I am writing to strongly urge my fellow Republicans to support Tracey Powell in the May 5 primary.

Contested primaries are healthy for our Republican Party; they ensure nominees are capable candidates to represent our party in the fall and also that sitting officeholders are paying attention to their districts, particularly those in noncompetitive seats for whom the General Election is often a formality.

Jim Buck understands this because he himself entered the General Assembly as a State Representative after first challenging an incumbent Republican in the primary in May 1994; Buck would later get caucused into this Senate Seat in 2008. I was a young child in ’94, and voting was far from my mind. According to the EIA, gas prices were just over $1/gallon, and healthcare was a lot less expensive at that time. Young people, like my parents, were able to buy a home and raise a family.

In the three decades since Jim Buck started representing us at the Statehouse, things have changed dramatically. Westfield has gone from a small farm town to a growing suburban city of nearly 60,000 people. Inflation has risen 122.8 percent; $1 in 1994 would be worth $2.23 today. Gas prices have risen as high as $3.68 in the district. Healthcare is increasingly less affordable. While the quality of care has declined, people are facing long wait times for important procedures and consultations – wait times we used to associate with government-run healthcare.

Not all of this is Jim Buck’s fault, but he has done very little, especially in the last four years, to alleviate the problem. He is partly responsible for the higher gas prices as he voted for the gas tax increase in 2017 – an increase that is tied to inflation and is automatic year to year.

Jim Buck’s campaign has consisted mainly of citing endorsements from organizations and people more relevant to his first 10 years in office than his last. He has also cited legislation he authored nearly that long ago.

I’m a bit of a history buff, and I once served as a page at the Senate for Buck’s immediate predecessor, Jeff Drozda, so I’m perhaps more familiar than the average citizen with who has served in what office and when, but when Jim Buck cited an endorsement from a Jim Butcher, even I was scratching my head and asking, “Who?” It was a fun research project. It turns out he was last in public office in 1986, seven years before I was even born.

That sums up Jim Buck’s 2026 campaign: touting old endorsements and decades-long accomplishments with next to no vision for the future. Kind of like Al Bundy talking about his high school football championship.

Ultimately, I think this race comes down to which candidate is running to do the work, not just have a title. Which candidate wants to do the job, not just have the job. It is about which candidate has a vision for the future, understands the challenges that face us, and will actually be around four years from now for the consequences of his actions or inaction to those challenges.

That is why I am proudly supporting Tracey Powell. As a chiropractor, he understands the challenges of growing healthcare costs. As a small business owner, he knows the meaning of managing a budget. As a County Commissioner, he understands local government and the challenges local government faces in an ever-changing world.

I’m voting for Tracey Powell and encouraging my friends and family to do so as well. Vote Tracey Powell on or before May 5.

Timothy Enyart
Westfield