Former Braun administration official Jennifer-Ruth Green has ended her bid to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, saying that the failure of Republicans to redraw Indiana’s congressional maps “tied our hands behind our back.”
Green had announced in October that she would seek the Republican nomination in northwestern Indiana’s 1st Congressional District in a second attempt to unseat Mrvan after losing to him in 2022.
But Green said Thursday that she was dropping out of the race — an action that came the day before the candidate filing deadline for the May primaries.
The district spanning Indiana’s Lake Michigan shoreline has been in Democratic hands for decades but has become increasingly competitive during the Trump era. It was a prime target for the congressional redistricting push that aimed to help Republicans win all nine of the state’s U.S. House seats.
Green’s statement on Friday said the district “remains an extremely difficult seat for a Republican to compete in and win.”
“We are in a midterm environment that history tells us will be challenging, as well as a district where even President Trump fell just short in 2024,” the statement said. “I am not afraid to combat poor ideas, but I must act with great wisdom before leading a team into the battle for the heart of our country, when our own teammates have proverbially tied our hands behind our back.”
Green spent about nine months in Gov. Mike Braun’s cabinet as public safety secretary before resigning in September amid accusations of ghost employment and misuse of state property.
She agreed in December with the State Ethics Commission to pay a $10,000 fine to settle a complaint filed against her by the state inspector general. Green admitted she violated Indiana’s political activity rule when she had state employees generate content and proofread posts for her “Elect Jennifer-Ruth Green” Facebook account.
Green’s decision leaves Porter County Commissioner Barb Regintz as the most prominent Republican candidate for the nomination to face Mrvan in the November election.
Regintz kickstarted her congressional campaign by loaning it $1.5 million of her own money, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Regintz ended 2025 with more than $1.4 million in her campaign account, far ahead of the about $100,000 reported by Green. Mrvan, who is seeking his fourth U.S. House term, reported about $900,000 in his campaign account.
Other Republicans who have filed are Ben Ruiz, Jim Schenke and Richard Mayers.
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