Former Indiana State Representative Terry Goodin joins Jennifer McCormick’s gubernatorial ticket

INDIANAPOLIS — A former state representative and House minority leader is now officially Jennifer McCormick’s running mate for the Democratic ticket for governor.

During Saturday’s 2024 Indiana Democratic Party Convention, delegates chose Terry Goodin as McCormick’s lieutenant governor. If McCormick, the Democratic nominee for Indiana governor, wins the general election in November, Goodin will be alongside her.

Goodin won with 79% of the vote, beating out community activist Clif Marsiglio and former gubernatorial candidate Bob Kern.

The McCormick/Goodin ticket will face the Republican ticket of U.S. Senator Mike Braun and Micah Beckwith in November.

According to previous reports , Beckwith was chosen by Republican candidates earlier this year as the party’s lieutenant governor after an unprecedented campaign, overcoming Braun’s endorsement of another candidate as well as an endorsement from former President, and presumptive Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump.

If McCormick is elected in November, Goodin will take over the lieutenant governor position from Suzanne Crouch, who served in the position under Indiana’s current Republican Governor Eric Holcomb.

“As a ticket, we are committed to bringing back common sense, civility, and bipartisanship while focusing on restoring women’s reproductive rights and freedoms, prioritizing education and fighting for good-paying jobs,” McCormick said in a statement at the time. “As a team, we will stay true to empowering all Hoosiers — and all means all.”

Goodin, who has previously worked in the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as in state public education, served for 20 years in the Indiana House of Representatives. Called a “folksy state lawmaker” and a “throwback” conservative Democrat , Goodin’s priorities that he laid out include:

• Every student has a great education in a safe school
• Recognizing that a state’s world-class education can lead to well-paying and union jobs
• Standing up for the decency of equal pay for equal work
• No Hoosier should have a full time job and still live in poverty.

Many people have taken to social media to criticize Goodin’s voting records, specifically his votes surrounding women’s rights. During Goodin’s announcement, he acknowledged his past voting record, stressing that the McCormick/Goodin ticket will do everything they can to restore women’s rights in the state of Indiana.

Goodin also took the time during his announcement to speak about his 2011 vote in favor of an Indiana ban on gay marriage. Goodin said that through that vote, he was “wrong and misguided” and “dehumanized” many Indiana residents.

Goodin stressed that he believes that “love is love” and all Hoosiers should have the right to affirm that love in marriage.

Going into November, McCormick has previously said her team is ready to face Braun and Beckwith.

“I refuse to turn Indiana over to a Braun-Beckwith team. They are dangerous, divisive, and extreme — and embody the fear and chaos that has taken our state on a dangerous path,” McCormick previously said. “This year, Hoosiers will have a simple choice. The freedom to choose or the ban of reproductive freedoms. The freedom to learn or book bans. Democracy or insurrection. I know where I stand and I know Hoosiers have had enough of the Braun-Beckwith agenda.”

In Goodin’s opinion, the choice in November is simple.

“The choice for a better Indiana is simple, folks,” he said during his announcement. “The choice is Jennifer McCormick for governor of the great state of Indiana.”

According to the Indiana Secretary of State’s office, Hoosiers are able to register to vote for the 2024 General Election through Oct. 7. For more information on how Indiana residents are able to register to vote, click here .

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