Former state cabinet secretary announces congressional run

Republican Air Force veteran Jennifer-Ruth Green announced Monday she will run again for Indiana’s 1st Congressional District despite pending state ethics charges.

She first challenged Democratic U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan in 2022. He defeated her 53% to 47%. It was the northwest Indiana district’s closest margin in decades.

“I have spent my life serving our country and striving to serve others. I love this country, and I am still called to serve. Today, I am announcing my candidacy for Congress because Northwest Indiana deserves better,” Green said in a news release. “The stakes have never been higher. When we defeat far-left Congressman Frank Mrvan and take back Indiana’s First District for the first time since 1928, Republicans will keep the House, and we’ll stop Mrvan and his radical allies in Congress from impeaching President Trump and advancing their socialist agenda.”

Indiana lawmakers are set to return to the Statehouse next week to redraw congressional boundaries early — possibly reconfiguring the 1st District into a reliably Republican seat.

In her announcement, Green promised to support President Donald Trump and back American manufacturing, lower prices, gun rights, border security and immigration enforcement.

“This isn’t about politics — it’s about saving America,” she said. “I serve our country in uniform. Now I’m ready to fight for the America we love in Congress.”

Green resigned as public safety secretary for Gov. Mike Braun’s administration in September. The Indiana Office of Inspector General filed a formal ethics complaint accusing her of ghost employment and misuse of state property. It came after Green signed a remediation agreement while an investigation ran its course.

Green previously commanded the 122nd Cyber Operations Flight in Fort Wayne and deployed to Baghdad with the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq. A U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, she is a Federal Aviation Administration-certified pilot and a former Air Force Special Agent. She also served as deputy commander of the 11th Operations Group at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C.

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