Indiana congressmen react to election results

INDIANAPOLIS - Two of Indiana's members of the U.S. House said economic issues and immigration played a key role in Democrats' massive election victories.

Democrats had flipped at least 43 seats in the House as of Friday, including in Indiana's 5th Congressional District, where Democratic state Sen. J.D. Ford upset three-term Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz. Another 25 seats have yet to be called.

Rep. André Carson, a Democrat who represents the northern two-thirds of Marion County, and Rep. Marlin Stutzman, a Republican who represents northeast Indiana, both told "All INdiana Politics" that voters were frustrated by high living costs and a perception that Republicans were not dealing effectively with those issues.

"Trump promised to lower costs, but his policies have made that burden a lot worse," Carson said. "Hoosiers and Americans voted for individual candidates, yes, but we also voted for ideas. Values."

Stutzman said he believes fuel costs imposed by the war with Iran played a direct role. After the Trump administration attacked Iran in an effort to destroy its nuclear weapons program, Iranian leaders responded by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which 20% of the world's supply of oil and liquified natural gas is shipped. On Friday morning, regular gas cost $4.07 per gallon while diesel cost $6.23 per gallon nationwide, on average. One year ago, those national averages were $3.08 and $3.71 per gallon, respectively. Stutzman said the election results are all the more reason for the Trump administration to wind up the war with Iran quickly.

Both congressmen also agreed the administration's immigration policies, particularly concerning deportations, played a role. Carson, a vocal critic of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center at the Miami Correctional Facility in north-central Indiana, said American voters decided they did not like the idea of immigration agents rounding up their friends and neighbors. He also noted that those raids led to a pair of fatal shootings in Minneapolis at the beginning of the year.

Stutzman said he believes the Trump administration got it right on securing the southern border but the deportations were excessive. Stutzman, along with fellow Republican Jim Baird and Democrat Frank Mrvan, is one of three Indiana cosponsors of the DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act, which would provide a path to lawful permanent resident status for those in the country without lawful status, including those admitted under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It also would defer some removals for people who meet certain conditions such as education or employment requirements.

"I think that the way that deportations took place just made a lot of Americans feel uneasy about it," he said. "And I believe that's part of it. We lost Latino voters and people that care about them."

"All INdiana Politics" airs at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WISH-TV and at 11:30 p.m. Sunday on WRTV.

Indiana congressmen react to election results

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