GREENFIELD — They sat on the sofa and chatted, glasses of wine in their hands, swapping stories about their families and offering commentaries on the day’s news. The topics included health care, the #MeToo movement, education and the overall future of the country.
It was a nice change of pace, Jeannine Lee Lake said. So often, campaigning is about speaking in front of large crowds or accepting hurried handshakes at parades or festivals or meet-and-greets. When you’re trying to meet as many people as possible, there isn’t always time for deeper conversation like this, she said.
Wednesday night, Lake, of Muncie, got a bit of a break. The Democrat vying to be Indiana’s next 6th District congressional representative cozied up in the living room of Andrea Yovanovich’s McCordsville home for a one-on-one conversation about, well, anything that popped into their heads.
Yovanovich said she met Lake at the Hancock County Democratic Party’s Jefferson Jackson dinner in August. There, they had their first of these deeper conversations, and since then Yovanovich has been a fan of Lake and her campaign.
This week, Yovanovich decided to open her home to whoever wanted to meet and chat with Lake. Her invitation reached more than 300 people, but no one showed up.
But the women (Lake’s campaign manager Lori Morgan was there, too) didn’t let that spoil their good time. Instead, they kicked back and talked about Lake’s campaign so far and her plans for the state and the nation, if elected.
It was all in stark contrast to the Republican rally earlier this week in Greenfield, where a crowd of hundreds showed up to hear from Greg Pence, her heavily favored Republican opponent, and a cast of GOP luminaries, including President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Jr.
Pence, the vice president’s elder brother, spoke briefly to the throng at Indianapolis Regional Airport in Mt. Comfort, saying he was inspired to run for office by the election of President Trump. He read aloud several of Trump’s tweets and comments he said reflected the “values” he shares with the president; he led the crowd in a chant of “USA! USA!” before introducing Donald Trump Jr. to speak.
He he never once mentioned Lake’s name.
It irks Lake a bit, she admits — the lack of acknowledgement her campaign has received from Pence’s. But that will be his downfall in the end, she believes. If she’s the underdog in this fight, she’s sure it’ll end in an upset, she said.
“I think there is going to be a blue wave,” Lake said. “That’s what we’re hearing from people.”
Lake, a 49-year-old mother of four, said, like her opponent, she was inspired by Trump’s election to run for office — but for entirely different reasons.
At some point in the turmoil that was the 2016 election season, Lake’s daughter approached her and asked, “Mom, why does he talk like that?” She was referencing the president’s rhetoric about women and people of color, Lake said.
She decided to run after that, deciding that it wasn’t fair for her rely on others to make a change; she needed to be part of the change.
She came out on top of a six-candidate Democratic field in the May primary. Since then, she’s been knocking on doors, attending events and meeting with residents across the 6th District.
It’s been hectic and heartwarming, Lake said. And she’ll keep pushing for the 12 days between now and Election Day to get her name out to as many people as possible.
Yovanovich said she was hoping to help in that endeavor by hosting the meet-and-greet at her home Wednesday.
She knew not to expect the 300-strong crowd that turned for the Republican rally on Monday — Hancock County is predominantly Republican, after all — but she wanted to give her friends and neighbors a chance to hear from Lake first-hand about the issues she cares about.
Those include fighting for a livable wage, establishing sensible gun control laws and curbing the opioid crisis, Lake said.
There will be a learning curve to overcome once she’s in Washington; so, she expects to spend her first year in Congress listening to and learning from her fellow representatives. But after that, she’s going to get to work, she said.
Income equality will be her top issue once she’s settled into office, Lake said. She wants to see the federal minimum wage to increase by $10 nationwide so that people who work full-time jobs don’t have to struggle to support their families.
Lake said she believes in sensible and reasonable gun control. She’s a gun owner herself; she has family members who hunt and pass along their weapons as heirlooms. But she believes there should be stricter background checks to ensure firearms don’t fall into the wrong hands.
Lake wants to see more time and resources devoted to treating those suffering from opioid addictions. This crisis isn’t one the country can arrest its way out of, she said. She’s for rehab in lieu of prosecution whenever it’s acceptable.
Lake said she’s always tried to surround herself with do-gooders — in addition to being editor and publisher of a small paper in Muncie, she’s worked for years in nonprofits — and that will continue if she’s elected. She hopes people, even those with more conservative leanings, can appreciate that about her.
Lake believes hearing from those with differing viewpoints is the only way the country can grow and become better, she added. That’s what she’s been trying to do throughout her campaign, she said: Reaching across party lines to touch even those who might not agree with her.
“There’s no city or town too red for me to go to,” Lake said with a laugh. “I see the person, not the party.”