INDIANAPOLIS — The 2024 Republican gubernatorial primary got a major wrench thrown into it this week when Hamilton County pastor Micah Beckwith announced an unorthodox bid for Lieutenant Governor.
“Micah Beckwith is simply wrong for Indiana,” said Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Mike Schmuhl. “The day after rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol to overturn the votes of the 2020 election, Beckwith claimed that the events were divinely inspired. He’s constantly been an opponent of a woman’s right to make her own decisions about her body, and thinks Indiana needs to go even further than the unpopular near-total abortion ban passed last summer.
“Hoosiers don’t need a Lt. Governor who will bring the culture wars of the extreme fringe into a largely non-political office tasked with increasing tourism and supporting agriculture. It’s clear Beckwith would put his own personal political goals over good policy as Indiana’s LG.”
While Gubernatorial and Lt. Gubernatorial candidates run on the same ticket for the November general election, the Lt. Governor nominees for each major political party are selected by delegates to the state convention. However, this process has been merely a formality in past decades, with the gubernatorial nominee’s preferred pick being selected without fanfare.
Beckwith, who said the January 6th rioters at the U.S. Capitol were sent by God, is now looking to upend the primary by electing hundreds of his supporters to the GOP convention next summer to wedge himself on the ticket.
The big question is: will Republicans let him? With their supermajorities in the Statehouse, they’re in a position to change state law and the nominating process for the LG spot if they choose. Such a move would surely only widen the party’s civil war.
As a library board member in Hamilton County, he helped remove thousands of books from the shelves. He’s also been a vocal opponent of reproductive rights, advocating for a nationwide ban on abortion, and additional restrictions on top of the near-total ban that passed last summer.
And Republicans may not be able to keep Beckwith from the nomination. At last year’s Indiana GOP convention, Beckwith stole the show with delegates talking to him for nearly four straight hours.
Indiana Public Media 1.23.23: Life Church pastor Micah Beckwith said he wants to see more anti-abortion legislation in Indiana and across the country. Indiana passed a near-total abortion ban in August, but that law is on hold due to legal challenges.
“We got to make sure all 50 states are moving towards making sure that abortion is not only unthinkable, but also legislatively we got to hold people accountable for pushing that and we want to see life flourish all around the nation,” Beckwith said.
Hamilton County Reporter 6.23.22: Noblesville’s Micah Beckwith seemed to be one of the most popular folks at the convention. On Friday night, he received friends and well-wishers for four straight hours and had so many wishing to talk to him he could barely get out the door.
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