WEBB: Young politicians invade scene, armed with issues

Brady Hall’s run for Indiana Senate began at a funeral.

In November, a friend and schoolmate of Hall’s was found dead after an apparent heroin overdose. After attending the service, Hall went home and read up on Southern Indiana’s worsening opioid epidemic.

Six heroin-related deaths in Vanderburgh County in 2015, according to the coroner’s office. That number leaped to 29 the following year. In the first two months of 2017 alone, the coroner worked six fatal overdoses in which heroin or fentanyl – or both – is likely to blame.

“In the back of my mind I always said ‘wait until the time is right,’” Hall said about running for office. “But you never really notice how big the issues can be until you’re standing over the casket of a 26-year-old.

“There’s really no time to waste when it comes to solving these problems.”

So Hall’s jumping in. The 26-year-old Evansville native will challenge Sen. Jim Tomes in the District 49 primary.

Usually primary challenges are birthed from bickering factions within the party – Richard “God Intended That to Happen” Mourdock knocking off Dick “I Actually Talk to Democrats” Lugar in 2012, for example. And while the moderate lane is definitely open in a race against Tomes, who has proposed everything from anti-transgender bathroom bills to legislation that would allow guns in schools, that’s not Hall’s game.

Sitting over popcorn and beer at Walton’s last week – well, I drank a beer; Hall runs 70 miles per week and takes much better care of himself -- he said Tomes didn’t factor into his plan at all.

“He certainly has more political experience than I do. But he ran unopposed in 2014 in the primary and the general election. And quite frankly, without opposition there’s no election,” Hall said. “… I don’t have an ax to grind with Jim personally. Actually I called him a few weeks ago (to tell him my plans).”

I asked him to comment on Tomes’ recent effort to legalize non-THC cannabinol that could treat epilepsy. And hey, how about medical marijuana?

Hall, whose only been eligible to run for public office for a year, deflected the question like a seasoned champ.

“You can only handle one thing at a time,” he said. “You’ve got to focus on what’s in front of you.”

If Hall makes the Senate, there will always be more than one thing in front of him. His candidacy actually hinges on two issues – heroin and increasing manufacturing, two of the trendiest political topics around. his focus on opioids will always get him press coverage – hi! – and keep his passion project in the conversation.

He plans to trumpet his views on other issues after officially announcing his candidacy on April 27.

His age will also set him apart. Hall is the second 20-something to leap into local politics in the last few weeks. Earlier this month, Democrat Glen Miller, a 27-year-old Bernie Sanders acolyte, announced his intention to battle Larry Bucshon for the Eighth District U.S. congressional seat.

The young cats are making ambitious moves – Hall taking on a popular in-party foe; Miller fighting a cash-stuffed doctor. And both seem to be taking it seriously. During Miller’s announcement on April 4, he discussed everything from health care reform to educational overhauls to gerrymandering. Hell, he even wants to rebuild the entire way in which elections are conducted.

"The biggest threat to our democracy is not some outside government infiltrating our election process, and it’s not domestic hackers or the DNC," he said during his announcement speech in front of the Old Courthouse on April 4. "The single largest threat to a fair democracy is our election machine."

Speaking of gerrymandering and a broken election system, Hall had one stipulation when I asked him where he wanted to meet. It couldn’t be the Bokeh Lounge, he said, because it’s not in the district.

“But Bokeh’s right across the street,” I said. If I squinted from our table at Walton’s, I could see Bokeh’s yellow façade.

He’s right. The barrier between districts 49 and 50 slices through Second Street’s chest and meanders up Washington Avenue, creating a politically convenient barrier that splits Parrett Street into northern and southern factions like a Civil War family.

Guess we'll need to tackle gerrymandering, too, Hall said. But that's another issue.

They’ll always be another issue. But with the 2018 election a year-and-half away, Hall is armed with his main one. Miller’s full of ideas as well, and both are still bereft of the self-serving stink that globs onto politicians the longer they languish in the system.

They're longshots -- Miller especially -- but they're out there, giving voice to a generation older politicians only pretend to care about. At least until millennials grow up and start making a little money. Then it's, "welcome to America, kids! Would you like to donate to my PAC?"

You don’t have to root for Hall or Miller, but you better pray we still live in a country in which passionate politicians armed with issues can get things done. If not, then we’re just wasting time we don't have time to waste.

Contact Jon Webb at jon.webb@courierpress.com