Sen. Mike Braun speaks to attendees of a meet-and-greet at JoJo’s Pretzels in downtown Goshen, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2024.
GOSHEN — The Goshen community gathered at JoJo’s Pretzels to discuss topics of interest with Sen. Mike Braun, including government funding, the Department of Child Services, road repairs across Indiana, and his hopes for a path to victory.
Braun is currently in the running as a gubernatorial candidate, hoping to replace exiting Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb in this November’s General Election.
The group that attended the meet-and-greet was attentive and prepared with questions and concerns. One notable concern was the state of Indiana roads, which Braun admitted are in need of repair. One of the attendees mentioned the state’s reputation as the Crossroads of America, but the roads are bad.
Sen. Braun provided his perspective and the process of legislation as well as his desired solutions for the issue. He explained that a lot of it comes from funding but there are motions in place that are being addressed.
“So in terms of the roads in general, back in 2017, we passed the last road funding bill,” Braun said. “We’re doing some of what you’ve talked about, Community Crossings, which we did back in 2016, I think we can put more money into it because it’s matched by locales.”
Braun said he believed most area governments would like to do more to enhance their roads than current funding supports.
“I’ll try to enhance that,” he said. “When it comes to getting our major roads done better, there was some in the budget for lane expansion on I-460, I-65 and I-70 which is mostly used by out-of-staters. I’m going to be entrepreneurial and try to find other ways to get more out of less, and hopefully you’ll be more pleased down the road.”
One of the final question was how Braun’s supporters could help bring him to a new seat at the head of Indiana government.
Braun first recognized this being his fourth “rodeo” politically and said it hasn’t been easy but that has yet to stop him.
“We’re going to get across the finish line,” he said. I take nothing for granted. You’re going to get a different type of governor than we’ve had before. I expect you to bend my ear, hold me accountable, and make sure we start fixing things. That’s what you have to look forward to.”
