Republican candidate for Indiana’s Ninth Congressional District, Mike Sodrel, stumped in Bloomington on Wednesday as part of an 18-county tour ahead of next week’s primary.
Sodrel attempted to distinguish himself from the number of other conservatives in the reliably red district by highlighting his business and prior military experience. He is the CEO of Sodrel Truck Lines headquartered in Jeffersonville. Sodrel was previously elected in 2004 for one term.
Last week, The Associated Press reported he recently changed his voter registration to fall within the district.
Sodrel believes government should create the environment for businesses to thrive and pointed to high gas prices as a key policy issue. He also mentioned border security and arming the Ukrainian government as key foreign policy topics.
He admitted Joe Biden was the president of the United States, but highlighted unsubstantiated claims that pandemic policies increased access to mail-in voting, leading to more voter fraud.
"Which election has not had some voter fraud in it?" Sodrel asked. "I don't know, I mean, I doubt we've ever had one that didn't have some voter fraud someplace."
Sodrel says he’s heard some voters are apathetic and believe change is impossible, but encouraged them to cast their ballot.
"'The candidate didn't do what I thought they were going to do. And I'm just not going to vote,'" Sodrel said charactizing some voters. "They need to understand that it is important for them to show up at the polls. It's important for them to vote."
Indiana’s primary election is May 3.
