23 Years in the Marines, 8 Years as Indianapolis Mayor & One More Race | Greg Ballard, Lincoln Party Candidate for Indiana Secretary of State

On today's show I sat down with former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, who grew up on the city's northeast side, attended Cathedral, joined the U.S. Marine Corps after finishing at IU, and is now running as an independent Lincoln Party candidate for Indiana Secretary of State.

Ballard served 23 years on active duty with deployments including Panama and the 1991 Persian Gulf War before he returned home in 2001 and was recruited to run for mayor despite little name recognition. He defeated incumbent Bart Peterson amid voter anger over property taxes and a major income-tax increase.

Ballard describes his transition into office, key achievements including securing and hosting the 2012 Super Bowl, and leading efforts behind DigIndy by pushing the EPA mandate cost down and transferring water/wastewater to Citizens Energy to remove politics.

In his run for Secretary of State, he collected over 74,000 petition signatures, formed around expanding ballot access and voter information.

If you like this episode and want to hear more Get IN. episodes where I interview Hoosiers making a difference, visit getindiana.com/podcast.

You are going to learn about:
- Greg Ballard's Indy Roots and Marine Corps Experience
- How Ballard Campaigned and Defeated Bart Peterson for Indianapolis Mayor
- Ballard's Achievements as Mayor
- Why Ballard Is Running as Independent for Secretary of State and What His Goals Are

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Check out these great clips from the show:
00:00 Future Vision Teaser
01:16 Guest Introduction: Greg Ballard, Lincoln Party Candidate for Indiana Secretary of State
02:47 Growing Up Indy
03:16 Joining the Marines
07:39 Quantico and OCS
09:31 Lessons From Service
10:59 Deployments and Worldview
13:20 Returning Home
15:39 From Bayer to Politics
16:24 Asked to Run Mayor
18:07 Slating and Nomination
21:50 Campaign With No Money
25:14 Debates and Momentum
28:10 Election Night Upset
32:09 Day One as Mayor
33:23 Transition Team Surprise
36:32 Early Wins Super Bowl Bid
40:19 Making Indy Super Bowl Magic
41:00 Super Bowl Village Vision
41:48 Big Ideas Zip Line Social
42:18 JW Marriott Trophy Wrap
43:18 Scarves And Service Culture
45:58 Super Bowl Legacy And PR
48:46 EPA Mandate And DigIndy
52:09 Citizens Utility Takeover
56:00 Independent Secretary Run
01:02:59 Lincoln Party Voter Guide
01:12:55 Rapid Fire Hoosier Wrap

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