Glenda Ritz, a Democrat, was elected in 2012 to be Indiana's Superintendent of Public Instruction. She was a huge underdog–but defeated the incumbent because a majority of Hoosiers, both progressive and conservative, supported her willingness to challenge Republican proposals that would destroy public education in Indiana.
Ritz was the first Democrat to serve as Superintendent in 40 years.
Governor Mike Pence was elected during the same election. One of his first acts as governor was to remove Ritz from the union-centered Educational Employment Relations Board. The Republican-controlled House Education Committee then proposed a bill to "strip the superintendent's position as chair of the State Board of Education. …The bill would allow Republican Gov. Mike Pence's 10 appointees to the 11-member board to elect their own chair."
In other words, as soon as a Democrat was elected to an influential state position (with 53% of the vote, higher than Pence received), the Republican governor and legislature set to rendering her office utterly without power and empowering themselves to oust her and prevent the reforms she was elected to champion.
The Republicans claimed their power grab, with Pence leading the charge, was merely intended to "clarify control of education policy."
Which is quite an extraordinary euphemism for "seize unilateral control of education policy, in direct contravention of the will of the voters."
This is how Pence does business.
I won't bother linking to the disaster last year when Pence badly fumbled the hastily passed and signed law that was a license to discriminate against LGBT people.
Many people took one look at the new Trump-Pence logo and saw gay innuendo that Pence would no doubt want to make illegal.
With about 3.5 months to go I've already reached my fill of the prez. campaign. My choice is obvious. So don't be surprised if I say nothing more about Hillary or Donald for the rest of the season. Of course, if something really fascinating is said or done I might make a comment. But there is now a quite high bar on what is considered fascinating.
I'll have recommendations on Michigan races when the state gay newspaper publishes its voter guide.
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