A conservative pastor from Noblesville has launched a bid for lieutenant governor.
Micah Beckwith, a pastor at Life Church’s Noblesville campus, officially made his announcement June 5 and said the decision was one that he had been thinking about for quite some time.
“The big thing I’ve noticed over the last 10 years, myself being a delegate, that when it comes to the lieutenant governor, you really don’t have a voice and they’ve given the courtesy to the gubernatorial primary winner,” Beckwith said.
Beckwith, a Republican, criticized Gov. Eric Holcomb and said, “We’ve seen him abuse his constitutional authority” over the last four years. Asked to elaborate on what he meant by abuse of constitutional authority, Beckwith pointed to Holcomb’s decision to close churches during the COVID-19 pandemic as one example and said he didn’t have the authority to do so.
“There’s no constitutional power to do that, but he took it anyway,” Beckwith said, noting that Holcomb has also fought against constitutional carry in Indiana.
He said a candidatel needs to have a voice for delegates and represent what they believe in.
Beckwith’s decision to pursue a run for the seat is unusual since delegates normally select a nominee but confirmed he had already spoken to four gubernatorial candidates – U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden, as well as Jamie Reitenour.
“I really do genuinely like all of them, they’re all good people and they all have great strengths,” Beckwith said. “They also bring weaknesses to the table as well, but my strengths would complement them.”
He said he thinks he could work with any of the four individuals, adding that they had wished him well. But Beckwith said his current campaign strategy in part is to promote the fact he is a candidate with conservative values while making a case to delegates and how he can serve individuals best as lieutenant governor.
“It’s going to be a very laser-focused campaign,” Beckwith said.
Beckwith, who previously ran for the U.S. House seat held by Victoria Spartz, said he has a campaign fundraising goal of around $200,000. He also plans to attend the convention, he said.
His campaign focuses, he said, include addressing property taxes in Indiana, saying the issue is one that the state Legislature has dropped over the last few years.
“I want to remove the burden of the property tax off the people of Indiana,” Beckwith said. “I really want to make sure we move the Legislature in the right direction.”
In addition, Beckwith said that “we have seen an agenda to indoctrinate our kids into this Marxist ideology that’s happening in our public schools whether people want to deny it or not.”
A post on Beckwith’s Facebook page dated June 6 also says that as lieutenant governor, he would “fight to let kids be kids, and I will keep the radical woke agenda from robing (sic) Hoosier children of their innocence.”
Asked to clarify what he meant by that statement, Beckwith said, “You can’t even define what a woman is anymore in public schools, I mean, that’s how crazy this has gotten, the stupidity of the culture.”
He also said he looks forward to educating Hoosiers around the state on the process regarding delegates and the lieutenant governor position as part of his campaign.
For more on Beckwith’s campaign, visit micahbeckwith.com.
