Sam Glynn

Candidate Q&A

In your view, what was the most important issue to come out of this year’s legislative session, and how would you have approached legislating the issue?

The most important issue that came out of this year’s legislative session was the lack of any real change that benefited Hoosiers, and my solution to this would be to impose age and term limits on all elected officials. These politicians act like these seats are guaranteed for life and pass laws that support their parties and their donors and not the citizens of our state.

Companies proposing data centers in Indianapolis had touted jobs and local tax revenue as benefits. Residents, many of whom have fiercely opposed the proposals, are concerned about pollution, energy bills and property values. What is your stance on the future of data centers in Indianapolis?

I think there shouldn’t be any data centers in Indiana, period. Indiana pays more per capita than any state on data centers, we are footing the bill for companies to build AI and take our jobs while rising the cost of living at the same time. I think all data centers should have to pay for their own electricity and offset the costs of the electricity for the residents, they should have to source water and not pollute drinking water with their waste, and the electricity companies should not be allowed to increase prices while having record profits.

Indianapolis residents are facing steep increases to the cost of living at the same time federal benefits are being pulled back. What is one policy you would pursue to ease the financial burden of your constituents?

I want to increase the state minimum wage to $15.88/hour, tying the state minimum to be equal to the state representative salary and ensuring that whenever the state supreme court or any other elected official wants a raise that everyone in this state benefits from it as well.

More than 1 in 10 Marion County residents were born outside the country. President Donald Trump’s administration is pursuing a immigration agenda that has led to mass detentions and at times resulted in the deaths of citizens and noncitizens. What is your role in maintaining the safety and due process rights of immigrants and other residents in Marion County?

Our state was once the fifth largest by population, people moved here to build a better life, and people still do that to this day. I waant to see Indiana be a state that people want to visit and settle down in. I want to make sure that the rights of our people include all persons on Hoosier soil, not just naturalized citizens. I will never support a bill that defames, punishes, or harms someone just because of where they were born, not only because it goes against the fourteenth amendment but because it’s unamerican.

How should public tax dollars be spent on education? Do you support property tax funding for charter schools? Should Indiana fund students’ tuition to attend private schools?

Indiana was the first state to enshrine public education in its state constitution, but our scores don’t show it well. Personally, I did go to a charter school, but my mother was a teacher for a public school for twenty-seven years and I grew up in classrooms. I want to see funding equally distributed around the state, because a good quality education shouldn’t be kept from you because of where your parents raise you. I would only support tax funding for non-public schools if it doesn’t take money away from public schools, and I think private schools should have to fund tuition for students who can’t afford it. I’d much rather we put more money into the public education system and consolidating resources to better help all kids.