Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Baird faces two primary challengers on May 5 as he seeks a fifth term representing Indiana's 4th Congressional District, while eight Democrats compete for their party's nomination in a district that the GOP has held for more than three decades.
Baird, an 80-year-old farmer from Greencastle, has represented the district since 2019. His Republican primary challengers are state Rep. Craig Haggard, and John Piper, a veterinarian and political newcomer.
U.S. House members serve two-year terms, write and vote on federal legislation, sit on committees and direct federal resources to their districts.
The district covers a wide stretch of west-central Indiana including the cities of Plainfield, Crawfordsville, Lafayette and West Lafayette, and Boone, Clinton, Hendricks, Montgomery, Tippecanoe and other counties.
WFYI contacted each campaign to ask why the candidate is running and what their priorities are. For candidates who did not respond, information was gathered from their campaign websites and social media. Candidate statements have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Jim Baird (incumbent)
Party: Republican
Age: 80
Residence: Greencastle
Occupation: Farmer, U.S. Representative
Website: electbaird.com
Campaign message: "Congressman Baird is running to continue delivering conservative, results-driven leadership for Indiana's 4th District. As the only candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump, Indiana Right to Life, Indiana Farm Bureau, and the NRA Political Victory Fund, his campaign demonstrates proven, trusted leadership backed by leaders in the conservative, pro-life, agricultural, and Second Amendment communities."
Top priorities: "Supporting agriculture and protecting family farms. Strengthening the economy and reducing government spending. Securing the southern border and ensuring national security. Protecting Second Amendment rights and constitutional freedoms. Expanding access to quality rural healthcare. Supporting veterans and honoring their service."
Drew Cox
Party: Democrat
Age: 42
Residence: Lafayette
Occupation: Visiting instructor at Purdue University
Website: drewcox.org
Campaign message: "We are working toward a government that is of the people, for the people, and by the people. We need a new slate of grassroots candidates that will put people over profits.
Top priorities: "Affordable healthcare for all. Regulation of data centers and other types of industries that take more than they give to the communities they're in. And Immigration and Customs Enforcement oversight. ICE needs to be held to the same standard as every other law enforcement agency."
Roger Day
Party: Democrat
Website: Facebook
Campaign message: Day said he is running to make sure his granddaughter and young people like her will have all the rights they are due.
Top priorities: Day's platform focuses on addressing the country's lax gun laws, increasing corporate taxes and increasing consumer protections.
Darin Patrick Griesey
Party: Democrat
Age: 59
Residence: Monticello, White Co
Occupation: Farm Owner; Nonprofit Consultant
Website: darinpatrick.com
Campaign message: "Washington is broken, and must be fixed. So I pledge on day one to sponsor a series of bills focused on putting more money in Hoosier pockets, ending the decades of corruption in Washington, while ushering in a new American Economy based on progressive taxation and balanced federal budgets."
Top priorities: "This district wants help, and no one has been listening! So when elected, I promise on day one to submit to Congress a series of bills focused on eliminating personal income taxes, closing corporate loopholes, reforming federal campaign laws, guaranteeing health care as a right, strengthening social security, balancing the federal budget, fixing immigration, protecting the environment, securing American energy, reducing gun violence, and decriminalizing cannabis."
Craig Haggard
Party: Republican
Age: 57
Residence: Mooresville
Occupation: Commercial broker, State Representative
Website: haggardforcongress.com
Campaign message: "My central message is about restoring constitutional principles, ensuring fiscal responsibility, and protecting public safety. My top priorities are promoting a balanced budget, strengthening national defense and veteran support, and ensuring that public safety is a priority, all guided by conservative values and my commitment to constitutional governance."
Why are you running for office: "I've decided to run for office because I believe our country is at a crossroads. With my experience in the military, business, and as a family man, I know we need leaders who will defend our freedoms, uphold the Constitution, and put the people of this district first. I'm running to serve, to protect, and to ensure a brighter future for all of us.
Thomas D. Hall Jr.
Party: Democrat
Age: 26
Residence: Martinsville
Occupation: Teamster
Website: electthomas.com
Campaign message: Hall said in his platform that America's free markets have been "rigged" by mega-corporate influence and that the country needs what he calls a "Second New Deal" to restore competition, reward hard work and rebuild the middle class.
Top priorities: Hall's platform lists more than 60 policy proposals across 11 issue areas, including enacting Medicare for All, raising the federal minimum wage to more than $15 an hour over five years, breaking up corporate monopolies through major antitrust action and requiring large corporations to elect one-quarter of their board members from their workforce.
Joe Mackey
Party: Democrat
Age: 65
Residence: Tippecanoe County
Occupation: Retired industry machinist
Website: joe4hoosiers.org
Campaign message: "I believe residents of the 4th Congressional have been, and I fear will continue to be represented in Congress by people more committed to a party than they are to their District. It is time to place the needs of our citizens above the desires of their corporate masters."
Top priorities: Mackey is concerned about affordable healthcare and housing, and public education. "It's time our representatives focused on the needs of their district. America First means Americans First or it's all just a smokescreen!"
Jayden McCash
Party: Democrat
Age: 29
Residence: Brownsburg
Occupation: Truck driver
Website: mccash4congress.com
Campaign message: "I am Husband, Father of 3, and lifelong Hoosier. I am fed up with the status quo. I want to end the forever wars, I want to pass single-payer Medicare for all and protect workers rights."
Top priorities: "Single Payer Medicare for All. I will not send a dime of your tax dollars overseas until we get Medicare for All."
Paul McPherson
Party: Democrat
Age: 39
Residence: Warren County
Occupation: Faculty Director at Purdue University's Bechtel Innovation Design Center
Website: votemcpherson.com
Campaign message: "I believe our country has reached a pivotal point where we need Congress to do their job and uphold their oath to the Constitution. We need politicians that are willing to come to the center of the aisle to formulate and pass bipartisan legislation that actually works for the American people."
Top priorities: "My top priorities include healthcare reform that better utilizes the monies currently being spent on Medicaid and Medicare as well as the ACA to provide healthcare to all Americans for free. Additionally, I believe we need education reform from k-12 and in higher education to support more hands-on, trades based skills and careers."
John Piper
Party: Republican
Website: thejohnpiperproject.com
Campaign message: Piper said in a campaign video that he is the only congressional candidate in the country drawing attention to what he described as a crisis involving contamination of mothers' breast milk. He has also accused Purdue University of contributing to a national veterinarian shortage.
Top priorities: Piper's stated priorities, drawn from his campaign video and social media posts, include addressing a national shortage of veterinarians, ending child sex trafficking, rooting out corruption in federal agencies, and what he describes as fighting radical Islamic terrorism in Indiana.
John Whetstone
Party: Democrat
Age: 29
Residence: Crawfordsville
Occupation: Small business owner
Website: whetstoneforcongress.com
Campaign message: "The government needs to put people back into the focus of politics and not the wealthy elite. It is time the government worked for everyday Hoosiers."
Top priorities: Whetstone said his priorities are a $17.25-an-hour minimum wage tied to inflation; Medicare for All; removing big money from politics; and fair taxes on the ultra-wealthy to fund Hoosier families.
Contact WFYI Digital Producer and Reporter Jeremy Reuben at jreuben@wfyi.org
