INDIANAPOLIS — A familiar face from the Republican gubernatorial primary has joined an independent ticket as a lieutenant governor candidate for the upcoming general election.
In late May, Jamie Reitenour announced she would run as lieutenant governor on an independent ticket with Paige Miller. Miller, a retired educator and the founder of the Moms for Liberty chapter in Hamilton County, is running for governor as an independent.
Reitenour initially ran for Indiana governor as a Republican in the May primary election. According to previous reports, Reitenour recorded 4.81% of the vote in May, which was a little under 29,000 votes.
According to Indiana election law, a primary candidate is not able to eligible to become a candidate for the same office in the general election. This limited Reitenour from running for governor as an independent, opening the door for her to join Miller’s independent ticket.
In a letter on the campaign’s website, Reitenour said that the values and principles that conservative Hoosiers hold dear are not the same values that the other Republican candidates had.
“As a lifelong Republican and candidate on the ground with Hoosiers,” the letter read, “Jamie was appalled by the party’s political games, the lack of true consideration for the people, the obvious interest in expanding government and social programs, the disregard for small business owners and the absolute silence in response to the attack on the family from all sides.”
In a video message on their joint campaign page in late May, both Miller and Reitenour said they were in mourning after May 7 and thought it was time to change direction. After that, they said that many individuals were reaching out to them to see what their next plans would be.
“I sought the Lord and I called on people who knew him, knew our journey, and I talked to the strongest leader that had traveled with me,” Reitenour said. “When Paige and I had a conversation, we looked at the burden on our hearts for the state of Indiana. We looked at the fact that we traveled all over the state… What you should know is that there are two leaders that have come forward. It is my great honor to run as lieutenant governor with Paige Miller as governor.”
The Miller/Reitenour campaign, according to its website, are focusing on some of the following subjects as they prepare for November’s election:
- Rebuild education
- Focus on academic excellence
- Remove technology from K-5 classrooms
- Eliminate CRT
- Bring back trade classes
- Give parents their voice back in the classroom.
- Lower property taxes
- Raise homestead exemption from $45,000 to $65,000
- Have 0% property taxes for homeowners 65 and older
- Establish a fixed property tax for primary residence of honestead
- Work with counties and Indiana General Assembly toward 1.01% property tax for all homesteads with cuts from other non-essential state budget areas.
- End government overreach
- Audit every department to identify and end wasteful spending and fraud
- Promote health freedom where doctors have a platform for open discussion so individuals can make informed decisions without coercion
- Restrict government influence on private schools and homeschooling.
Miller said in the video that she does not belong to a political party, stressing that it has never been about the title.
“As I look at taking this job over, and I will tell you, it took time and prayer, my husband and I discussed it for a long time, it wasn’t a decision we came to lightly nor was it one we came to in just a few minutes,” Miller said in the video. “…My ability then to have an impact for the conservatives in our state, that’s who I’m doing this for.”
The campaign believes that running as an independent campaign shows that they are not members of the political elite, stressing that they are for Hoosiers.
“We must start realizing that exclusive rules created by political systems are a distraction from the dangerous reality that our government was not constitutionally intended to be run by the elite,” the letter read. “It was intended to be of the people, by the people, and for the people. Enough is enough. It is time for truth, transparency and engagement.
In the video, Reitenour said the campaign is operating a plan that they believe will bring a successful independent ticket in the state of Indiana. To get on the general election ballot in November, the campaign needs to collect 36,493 signatures.
If the Miller campaign records the needed signatures, they are expected to face the following individuals in November’s general election:
- U.S. Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind. – Republican candidate
- Jennifer McCormick, Democratic candidate
- Donald Rainwater, Libertarian candidate
