Senate candidate visits Jay

Basketball is one of the staples of Indiana. So Eric Holcomb thought it would be a good way for him to connect with Hoosiers throughout the state.
His goal: Visit all 92 counties, making a basket in every one along the way.
Holcomb, a candidate for the Republican nomination to run for the U.S. Senate in 2016, made his stop in Jay County on Thursday, shooting hoops at Jay Community Center and visiting Koffee Kup Diner for lunch and a chat with local residents.
He is currently one of three Republicans to have declared candidacy for the seat, along with U.S. Reps. Marlin Stutzman, who represents Jay County, and Todd Young.
“What really prompted or inspired me was that two to three (years) working for Dan Coats in the Untied States Senate,” said Holcomb. “I got to see what worked, how we turned the State of Indiana around, and then for that two-year period working for Dan Coats I saw the dysfunction and what wasn’t working (in Washington).”
Holcomb, who is about 85 percent of the way to his goal of visiting each of Indiana’s counties, said in talking to Hoosier he has heard recurring comments about three topics — national security, economic stability and the intrusiveness of the federal government. He noted concern about changing circumstances around the world (Ukraine and Syria, for example), an out-of-control tax code and overly burdensome regulations.
“There seems to be a common theme of what is on Hoosiers’ minds and really Americans’ minds, and that is concern, real concern,” he said. “I think a lot of people approach every day wondering what the future will bring.”
Holcomb is a graduate of Pike High School in Indianapolis and Hanover College, who then served domestically and in Europe in the Navy during the Desert Storm/Desert Shield era.
Losing a race for state representative in 2000, he later became part of the Mitch Daniels administration and eventually served as the Indiana governor’s deputy chief of staff. He was the campaign manager for Daniels’ re-election in 2008, and then became chairman of the Republican Party in Indiana before going to work for as the Indiana-based chief of staff for Coats.
He said he wants to use knowledge gained from working at the state level helping turn what was once an $800 million Indiana deficit into a now $2 billion surplus, improving the state’s credit rating and attracting jobs to bring about similar change for the nation.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to take kind of a fresh perspective to the United States Senate, equipped and informed with a plan that has come out of Indiana,” said Holcomb, who later visited Adams County before heading to Cleveland for Thursday evening’s Republican presidential debate. “I plan to take that same kind of teamwork and plan approach just like we had here in the state of Indiana starting in 2005 under Daniels’ leadership … You have to have a plan, and you have to have a big team to help you hit the winning shot.”