Andy Ruff hasn’t ruled out running for Congress again in 2022.
The former Bloomington city councilmember and Democratic candidate for Indiana’s 9 th District says he’s spent the last month or so looking back over his campaign and tying up loose ends, and when it comes to the future, nothing has been decided.
“I'll stay politically active and engaged and involved in the community, so that won't change – I’ve been doing that for decades,” Ruff said. “I'll be thinking about whether or not I think the time will be right to make another run again. I don't know. I have a lot to think about, a lot to weigh. And so, you know, I'll be thinking about that.”
Incumbent Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R–Jeffersonville) won 60.9 percent of the vote to Ruff’s 34.8 in the November election for the IN-09.
As a progressive Democrat running in Southern Indiana, Ruff pitched himself as an ordinary Hoosier who was more in touch with 9 th District voters than the multimillionaire Hollingsworth.
READ MORE: A Conversation With Andy Ruff, Democratic Candidate For Indiana’s 9th District
“[I thought voters] would look at my race and say, ‘Hey, this guy is not an establishment typical partisan hack Democrat. He's an independent-minded genuine Hoosier – a regular guy, a working guy. I feel a lot more connected and a lot more represented by that guy than Mr. Hollingsworth.’ And clearly that didn't happen.”
Ruff says while the result obviously wasn’t the one he’d hoped for, internal numbers show places for possible improvement. But nothing can happen until the state legislature completes redistricting and we know what the 9 th District looks like.
“We have a lot of work to do,” he said. “‘We’ collectively as in our democracy, but certainly we as Democrats who support the party have a lot of work to do. And I'm willing and able to continue working for that and fighting for that.”
Since the results came in, Ruff’s been catching up on time with his family and friends and was even able to get out fishing a couple times before the weather got too cold. He says he’s really looking forward to getting back to making new music with his band, “The Dew Daddies.”
“The only song I wrote last year was the ‘Tennessee Trey’ song,” Ruff said. “I've got a bunch of songs that I'd written in the year or two leading up to the campaign for Congress that I'd like to go into the studio and record. So I envision getting back into the studio and doing some recording of some new original material that I've got.”
