INDIANAPOLIS — Evan Fitzgerald says he “got the bug” for politics at a young age.
The New Palestine native twice during middle school served as a student page at the Indiana Statehouse, where he toured the Senate and House chambers and learned more about the legislative process. That spark for politics grew once he started college at Purdue University three years ago, and Fitzgerald said he made it a goal to one day work at the state capitol.
Fitzgerald, 21, a graduate of New Palestine High School, has been working as an intern for the House since the session started in January. He helps three House lawmakers: Reps. David Abbott, R-Fort Wayne, Wendy McNamara, R-Evansville, and Sharon Negele, R-Attica. He’s also been able to interact with Rep. Bob Cherry, R-Greenfield, one of two legislators he met with while serving as a student page in middle school.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryFitzgerald spends most days answering phone calls and emails from constituents, sitting in on meetings with representatives and setting up paperwork on the desks of lawmakers in the House chamber.
“We set the stage and we know that their job is really hard, and we try to make everything outside of the job really, really easy,” Fitzgerald said. “Nothing I do here feels like a chore, and I really like that.”
He’s one of the first points of contact between constituents and legislators, a task he says is both the best and most difficult parts of the job. Typically, the person is at his or her last resort when they call a representative for help, Fitzgerald said, adding it’s “hard to take in what everybody is telling you.”
But it can also be rewarding, he said.
“If I work my hardest and I’m really able to follow through on things,” he said, “I can resolve their problems and actually make people’s lives better.”
And that’s how Fitzgerald said he wants to live his life. He said he sees that in many representatives in the House, saying they put their “heart and soul and blood and sweat” into their work. They come from different backgrounds and focus on passing bills that pertain to their passions and expertise.
Fitzgerald, who plans to graduate from Purdue early this August with degrees in political science and economics, is also studying for the LSAT, a law school admission test. He’s taking classes online while working at the Statehouse.
Some days at the Statehouse, Fitzgerald said he runs into Cherry in the hallways or listens to him talk and debate during committee meetings or on the House floor. Fitzgerald was a page for Cherry in 2012 and also served as a page for former Republican State Sen. Bev Gard, of Greenfield, a few years prior.
“I have a lot of respect for him,” Fitzgerald said about Cherry, an 11-term House representative. “He’s been doing it a long time, and you can tell he cares for his constituents a lot.”
Although student pages, typically between the ages 13 and 18, only spend just a day out of school touring the Statehouse and meeting with their local lawmakers, Cherry said he remembered Fitzgerald having an interest in politics as a young teenager. He meets with dozens of pages each year.
Cherry said Fitzgerald is bright and articulate, adding he’s impressed with the Purdue student’s drive to finish school early and his interest in applying for law school. Cherry also invited Fitzgerald to the Hancock County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner in March.
“He’s thinking ahead,” he said.
Fitzgerald said once his internship wraps up at the end of the month, he hopes it’s not his last time working at the Statehouse. After he graduates in August, Fitzgerald plans to work for a year before starting law school. That could include working as a legislative assistant if a position opens up, he said.
But Fitzgerald doesn’t see himself getting involved in politics until later in life.
“I can see myself if I end up in a small town somewhere, maybe when I’m 45 or 50 and have a couple of kids and really lay down roots in a community … doing that on a really local level,” he said.
