By STEVEN MURREY
Managing Editor
smurrey@cherryroad.com
Robby Slaughter moved to Elwood about two years ago when he made the decision to run for the United States Congress. Seeking the 5th Congressional seat as an Independent, Slaughter said Elwood was in the center of the district and made a good base of operations.
“Elwood is much more representative of the district than other parts,” said Slaughter on his move from Hamilton County. “We spent a lot of time in Carmel, and Carmel is very different than most places, economically and culturally. If you’re going to run for Congress, I think you need to run in a place that is representative of the people you want to serve.”
Slaughter said that Indiana’s 5th Congressional District spans six counties, including Delaware, Grant, Hamilton, Howard, Tipton, and Madison. He called the district a microcosm of the state, as the district includes rural areas, manufacturing cores, high income areas, areas of high growth and areas where people are retreating.
“It’s been really positive,” Slaughter said of his experience in running for Congress. “When you tell people you’re an Independent candidate, they open up. Obviously we have some partisanship, but when you tell them you’re an Independent people are mostly willing to listen.”
Slaughter said the more rural the area, the more surprised and willing people are to talk to him. Slaughter believes that people are receptive to his messaging because partisan politics have gotten increasingly divisive.
“If you look at partisanship right now, more people vote against the other party than for their own party,” Slaughter said. “People feel like they’re being divided by the existing messaging. The messaging is designed to drive them apart, rather than create any kind of middle ground of cooperation.”
Slaughter believes the biggest issue is a fundamental distrust of government. He spoke of Congress’s low approval ratings, and growing distrust of our country’s institutions.
“It doesn’t really matter what you say you’re going to do, people don’t believe that’s going to happen. I think the only way to restore trust is to spend time in communities. You’re not going to see many other politicians do what I do, which is spend a lot of time with people and go to community events.”
Slaughter said one way to restore trust in government is to willingly give up power, which includes term limits.
“It shows that as a representative, I want to do the job and then make room for the next person,” he stated. “We have so many career politicians, and there is a strong distrust towards them.”
Slaughter said that likewise, he also believes in “radical financial transparency.”
“When you go to Congress, you shouldn’t be making any money outside of your own congressional salary. Any money you had beforehand ought to be put into a trust. Because you’re there to do a job. Right now, there is so much money involved in the process.”
Slaughter said when thinking about running for office, he spoke with as many candidates who have sought this office as he could, and the common them was that fundraising is the most important thing.
“I talked to a guy who ran as a Democrat, and he said he spent three hours every day fundraising. That’s not representation.”
Slaughter said the district’s current representative was in Pennsylvania Monday stumping for former President Trump. Slaughter said he believes Spartz is not representing the people of the district, and is representing her party instead.
When asked if his political ideology is more liberal or conservative, Slaughter said he doesn’t believe that spectrum does not make much sense.
“Which is the party that says you should be able to control your own body? Well, it depends on whether you’re talking about vaccines or not. Which is the party that says your rights need to be protected? Well, it depends on which right. I’m open minded, if you’ve got a point of view, I want to hear what you have to say,” said Slaughter.
When asked what he would say to those who feel that voting for a third party candidate is throwing away their vote, Slaughter said he believes that voting third party or Independent is more powerful than voting for what he called “establishment candidates.”
“The establishment candidates have demonstrated they are ineffective,” said Slaughter. “The message I have to people is third party voters have more power, because you’re communicating to the establishment that you want other options.”
Slaughter cited Libertarian candidate for Governor, Donald Rainwater as an example.
“Republicans are now putting out attack ads against him. What’s the old saying? First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, and then you win, right?”
Slaughter said another big issue in the district is public safety, citing the Shahnavaz family, who have raised funds to upgrade police fleets with bulletproof windshields after the murder of Elwood office Noah Shahnavaz. Slaughter said he admires their efforts, but believes the government should be offering more help.
He also cited healthcare as a major issue facing the district, citing Elwood resident Hannah Everson’s recent battle with cancer. Slaughter said he has purchased wristbands and has gone to fundraisers for the Everson family, but said the need to raise money to fight a health crisis is indicative of our broken system.
“I think our healthcare system is broken, and that long term healthcare will look more like a utility. The question is, how do we get there? I think we need to step back and analyze the whole system.”
Slaughter said one way to do that would be to provide more subsidiaries upfront for those pursing careers in the medical field, offsetting the massive expense to become a doctor. He also said there is a need to address the patent and trademark system with regards to medication.
“The basic example is insulin, which is only marginally more effective than the insulin we had 50 years ago, because of patent efforts by various organizations. The cost of insulin goes up instead of down, and it’s life threatening for people.
“I had to get 6,000 signatures to get on the ballot, and I’ve probably had 10,000 conversations in the past year with people I didn’t know before. To me, this has been a positive experience.”
“I want people to know that I’m accessible, and I’m doing the work. Most candidates are not, they’re resting on the machinery of the party. If you want an option, if you want to talk to someone, I’m available to people. I think it’s important to understand you have an option, and you haven’t had an option in a long time.”
Indiana’s 5th Congressional District race include incumbent Victoria Spartz, Republican; Deborah Pickett, Democrat; Lauri Shillings, Libertarian; and Robby Slaughter, Independent.
