2016 IN Governor's race: on Civil Rights


Mike Pence: Pro-business environment better for wages than equal pay

Hoosier women earn about 73 cents for every dollar men make for the same work, and the poverty rate for women and girls in Indiana is nearly 17 percent. Mike Pence says he believes the way to address income disparity is to promote economic growth. "Creating an environment that encourages more investment, more job opportunities for Hoosiers is the best pathway forward toward increasing personal income for men and women in Indiana," he says.
Source: Howey politics on 2016 Indiana gubernatorial race Jul 15, 2016

Mike Pence: Opposes pay equity; close wage gap by growing economy

Pence said he wanted women to make every bit as much as men, and said the way to close Indiana's wage gap was through growing the economy. In this legislative session, House Democrats offered an amendment creating a commission to study pay disparity, but it was blocked by Republicans. Governor Mike Pence says he believes the way to address income disparity is to promote economic growth: "Creating an environment that encourages more investment, more job opportunities for Hoosiers is the best pathway forward toward increasing personal income for men and women in Indiana," he says. [Howey Politics, 4/9/2014]
Source: INDems.org & Howey politics: 2016 Indiana gubernatorial race Apr 15, 2016

John Gregg: Supports equal pay for equal work

In the last campaign, we talked about leveling the playing field and eliminating the pay gap. However, since that time, Governor Pence has done nothing and the problem has gotten worse. As governor, this will be a priority in my administration. I will lead by example and will work with the public, private and non-profit sectors to take this disparity head on.
Source: 2016 Indiana Governor campaign website GreggForGovernor.com Jan 12, 2016

John Gregg: Civil rights statute should support sexual orientation

Mike Pence has proven he's just an officeholder, not a leader. On issue after issue critical to the state of Indiana, he passes the buck. His refusal to take a stand for equality is unconscionable given the fact that he created this mess, which continues to damage Indiana's economy and reputation. I encourage Governor Pence to join me in supporting updating our civil rights statute to include sexual orientation and gender identity so Indiana can begin to move forward again.
Source: 2016 Indiana Governor campaign website GreggForGovernor.com Jan 12, 2016

John Gregg: Supports the legality of gay marriage in Indiana

He fully sup-ports re-peal-ing RFRA, the re-li-gious free-dom bill. In In-di-ana the law of the land is to al-low same-sex mar-riage, and he sup-ports that, and as gov-ernor he's not go-ing to fo-cus on so-cial is-sues, he's mov-ing ahead.
Source: National Journal on 2016 Indiana Gubernatorial race Dec 20, 2015

Mike Pence: Listen to the merits of debate on LGBT rights

Civil rights expansion: This is the elephant on the table. All sides are digging in. This creates a situation where either Gov. Pence, Speaker Brian Bosma or Senate President David Long will have to take the lead. Pence is playing his cards close to the vest. He has repeatedly said that he will listen to the "merits" of the coming, noisy debate as Freedom Indiana and the Indiana Pastors Alliance will hold dueling demonstrations during legislative Organization Day in November.

This is a policy and political gauntlet for Gov. Pence. He will have to be adroit and communicate well, or he faces the prospect of being a one-term governor. It's time for statewide non-discrimination protections for LGBT Hoosiers!

Source: Kokomo Perspective on 2016 Indiana Gubernatorial race Oct 24, 2015

John Gregg: Protect LGBT rights; religious rights are already protected

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act was designed to keep local and state laws from "substantially burdening" the deeply-held religious principles of individuals, businesses or religious institutions.

Gregg doesn't see it that way. He feels the bill was a play to stir up the hardcore right-wing base. It painted the state in a negative light, something which could have economic repercussions for years to come. "We will never know the dollar loss that that has cost, and is costing and will cost us," he said. "A person that books acts at one of Indiana's largest public universities, told me that groups did not want to come to Indiana because we did not have an LGBT statute."

Both sides of the issue deserve to be heard, Gregg said, but the First Amendment gives all the right and freedom to worship as they choose, and the extra legislation was unnecessary.

Gregg says the only social issue-related bill he wouldn't veto was adding protections for the LGBT community to a civil rights statute.

Source: Kokomo Tribune on 2016 Indiana Gubernatorial race Sep 24, 2015

John Gregg: 2012: No same-sex marriage; 2015: marriage & more for LGBT

Gov. Pence as an incumbent now has a track record to defend. That gives Gregg the opportunity to point out one of Pence's main vulnerabilities--his handling of the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which some considered to be a direct slap at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers.

Yet, on gay rights, Gregg's evolving opinion on the issue may become a challenge with more progressive members of the Democratic Party. In 2012, Gregg opposed same-sex marriage. But this summer, not only did he express support for the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage across the country, he also is in favor of expanding Civil Rights protections for LGBT Hoosiers.

Source: Indy Star on 2016 Indiana gubernatorial race Aug 24, 2015

John Gregg: Hoosiers welcome others inclusively; RFRA is divisive

While Pence has been focused on social issues like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) that Gregg says can divide Indiana, the Democrat candidate said he is all about jobs, education and infrastructure. "Indiana's about being inclusive and welcoming all peoples whether we agree with them, look like them, act like them or anything. That's Hoosier hospitality," Gregg added. Indiana is not about the RFRA "that wasn't even necessary" or any [other similar] social initiatives, Gregg said.
Source: Banner-Graphic coverage of 2016 Indiana gubernatorial race Jun 14, 2015

John Gregg: Sexual orientation & gender identity are civil rights issues

Two social issues he is pushing. The first is full repeal of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. When I suggested that the last thing Indiana needs is Round 2 of RFRA, Gregg insisted that there's strong support for repeal around the state. The second social issue that Gregg plans to champion is the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's civil rights law.
Source: Indianapolis Star on 2016 Indiana Gubernatorial race May 13, 2015

  • The above quotations are from 2016 Indiana Gubernatorial race: debates and news coverage.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Civil Rights.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
Candidates and political leaders on Civil Rights:

Gubernatorial Debates 2020:
DE: vs.Carney(incumbent) vs.Williams(D)
IN: vs.Holcomb(incumbent) vs.Melton(D) vs.Myers(D)
MO: Parson(incumbent) vs.Galloway(D) vs.Neely(R)
MT: Bullock(retiring) vs.Fox(R) vs.Perry(R) vs.Gianforte(R) vs.Stapleton(R) vs.Olszewski(R) vs.Neill(D) vs.Schreiner(D) vs.Cooney(D) vs.Williams(D)
NC: Cooper(incumbent) vs.Forest(R) vs.Grange(R)
ND: Burgum(incumbent) vs.Coachman(R) vs.Lenz(D)
NH: Sununu(incumbent) vs.Volinsky(D) vs. fsFeltes(D)
PR: Rossello(D) vs.Garced(D) vs.Pierluisi(D)
UT: Herbert(retiring) vs.Huntsman(R) vs.Cox(R) vs.Burningham(R) vs.Newton(D) vs.Hughes(R)
VT: Scott(incumbent) vs.Holcombe(D) vs.Zuckerman(D)
WA: Inslee(incumbent) vs.Bryant(R) vs.Fortunato(R)
WV: Justice(incumbent) vs.Folk(R) vs.Thrasher(R) vs.Vanover(D) vs.Smith(D) vs.Ron Stollings(D)

Gubernatorial Debates 2021:
NJ:
Murphy(D) vs.Ciattarelli(R)
VA:
Northam(D,term-limited) vs.Herring(D) vs.Chase(R) vs.Fairfax(D)

Gubernatorial Debates 2019:
KY:
Bevin(R) vs.Goforth(R,lost primary) vs.Adkins(D,lost primary) vs.Beshear(D) vs.Edelen(D,lost primary)
LA:
Edwards(D) vs.Rispone(R) vs.Abraham(R) vs.Kennedy(R,declined)
MS:
Bryant(R,retiring) vs.Foster(R) vs.Hood(D) vs.Reeves(R) vs.Waller(R)
Please consider a donation to OnTheIssues.org!
Click for details -- or send donations to:
1770 Mass Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140
E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org
(We rely on your support!)

Page last updated: Nov 30, 2021