'Toxic and divisive': Another veteran political leader leaving Trump's Republican party

Indiana state Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany, speaks during a committee meeting on Jan. 23, 2024. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Republican Rep. Ed Clere has decided to leave the Indiana General Assembly after 18 years — and says the political changes brought by President Donald Trump have pushed him out of the party.

Clere cited the conflict over the failed congressional redistricting demanded by Trump among his reasons for not seeking reelection to his House seat this year. He further plans to run as an independent candidate for New Albany mayor in 2027.

Trump has in recent weeks endorsed five challengers to incumbent Republican senators after he vowed political revenge against those who defied him on the redistricting bill.

One of those challengers, Bluffton City Councilman Blake Fiechter, had said he was surprised by Trump’s endorsement but quietly filed his candidacy last week to run in the Republican primary against Sen. Travis Holdman, who is the chamber’s third-ranking member as majority caucus chair.

Clere’s rocky road with Republicans

Clere, who first won his New Albany-based seat in 2008, announced his decision to not seek a 10th term representing Floyd County to the News and Tribune on Friday.

He has focused much of his legislative time on the state’s social safety net efforts. He has criticized Braun administration cuts to Medicaid, child care and food-assistance programs, saying last month he was “very concerned about the ideological focus” of many state actions.

He was an early and outspoken opponent of the congressional redistricting push and was among 12 GOP Republicans joining Democrats in voting “no” when it cleared the House in December. The bill was defeated a week later in the Republican-dominated Senate.

Clere told the Indiana Capital Chronicle that the redistricting push was a “very obvious and extreme example” of how the “toxic and divisive politics of Washington have made their way to Indiana.”

“A lot of Indiana Republicans wanted nothing to do with it, and saw how dangerous and destructive it was, but still felt they had to go along with it,” he said in an interview Sunday. “… I know lots of other people who are not OK with this but most of them are keeping their head down and hoping all of this blows over.”

Clere has broken from fellow Republicans on several high-profile issues in recent years — voting against the 2022 abortion ban bill, a 2023 ban on transgender medical care for minors and a 2025 bill allowing partisan school board elections. All of those won legislative approval and became state law.

Clere lamented the party’s shift away from the politics of former Gov. Mitch Daniels — who held the office when Clere was first elected to the Legislature — and toward an embrace of divisive social issues.

“There’s still good legislation, but it’s not like it was when I arrived,” Clere said. “It’s a very different focus and a very different atmosphere.”

Republican House Speaker Todd Huston’s office did not immediately comment on Clere’s announcement.

Clere said he told Huston about his decision last week and that they had a “very cordial” conversation.

Clere said he intended to remain part of the House Republican caucus and serve out the remainder of his legislative term that ends in November.

Floyd County Republican Party leaders issued a statement that thanked Clere for his service while saying he “has stepped away from Republican values by supporting legislation not aligned with the Republican platform.”

Clere gained attention in 2015 as he advocated legislation allowing counties to start syringe exchange programs for intravenous drug users following a major HIV outbreak in southern Indiana’s Scott County.

He lost his position as Public Health Committee chairman after that session, but Clere counts the syringe program as his top accomplishment.

“That legislation has saved countless lives, prevented countless cases of infection, including HIV and hepatitis C, and it has led to countless people entering recovery programs,” he said.

A run for New Albany mayor in the 2027 city election would be Clere’s second try for the office. Democratic Mayor Jeff Gahan won his fourth term in 2023 as he got 52% of the vote over Clere.

Despite that mayoral loss, Clere easily held on to his House district that covers most of Floyd County with 57% of the vote in 2024 and 60% in 2022.

Clere said his Statehouse frustrations helped lead him to look at another run for mayor.

“It’s not just about where I am with the Republican Party, it’s also about where I believe I can be most effective,” he said.

Trump-backed challenger makes run official

Fiechter, the Bluffton council member, filed his state paperwork Wednesday to run for the state Senate against Holdman in the May primary.

That action came nearly a week after Trump’s social media endorsement was posted, with the president calling Holdman a “RINO” — for Republican in name only — and “an America Last politician” for opposing the redistricting bill.

Fiechter has not responded to phone and email messages from the Capital Chronicle.

A post on Fiechter’s Facebook page about his candidacy filing said “We need a strong conservative and America First Senator representing us in Indianapolis and I pledge to continue to be just that.”

He is a real estate broker who is in his first term as an at-large member of Bluffton’s city council after winning election in 2023.

He told The Indianapolis Star the day after Trump’s endorsement post that he was surprised by it and had not made a decision about a Senate campaign.

Fiechter described himself as a Trump supporter who generally favored the congressional redistricting push.

Holdman, who has been in the Senate since 2008, is chair of the influential Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee.

When asked last week by the Capital Chronicle about Fiechter’s primary challenge, Holdman said “It’s part of the process.”

“I’ve known him for years, helped get him elected to Bluffton City Council,” Holdman said. “We’ll see how it goes.”

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