Indiana political centrist group shifts focus as partisan divide grows

An Indiana political group that previously tried to boost centrist candidates is shifting its focus as it tries to influence the state's political landscape.

ReCenter Indiana is likely best known for billboards it put up last year urging Democrats to vote in the GOP primary in a bid to boost more moderate gubernatorial candidates' chances.

Now the group has brought on an executive director for the first time, former Democratic Fishers City Councilor Jocelyn Vare. She said the focus must be on Hoosiers and their priorities.

"For example, we're really focusing on the 18- to 34-year-old young adult area and learning about those voters, how to encourage them to be participatory voters, but also informed," Vare said.
 

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The group will conduct a survey this fall of 18- to 34-year-old central Indiana residents who didn't vote in 2024. Vare said ReCenter Indiana will try to learn why those young adults didn't cast a ballot and what obstacles exist.

She said the organization will then develop programs to help break down those barriers.

The survey will be funded by a $50,000 grant from the Nicholas H. Noyes Jr. Memorial Foundation, a central Indiana philanthropic organization.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.