Jennifer-Ruth Green, the 2022 Republican congressional candidate, announced her candidacy to challenge U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, in the expected to be redrawn First District as Gov. Mike Braun has called for a special session for mid-census redistricting.
Braun announced Monday he would call for a special legislative session beginning Nov. 3 to address redistricting of Indiana’s Congressional districts. Typically, redistricting occurs every 10 years after the release of census data, but the Trump administration has been pressuring Republican states to redistrict ahead of the 2026 election so that Republicans can maintain control of the U.S House of Representatives.
Green lost a close race to Mrvan in 2022 by more than 12,000 votes.
Of Indiana’s nine Congressional districts, seven seats are held by Republicans and two seats are held by Democrats, including the First District.
In her campaign announcement, Green said “with Indiana likely to redistrict to make this seat fairer and more competitive, IN-01 will be key to the control of the House of Representatives in 2026.”
Green recently left her Indiana Secretary of Public Safety post following an ethics complaint investigation by the Indiana Office of Inspector General, which alleged that Green committed numerous ethics violations including retaliating against an employee and requiring state employees to do campaign work on state time. No hearing has been set for the complaint at this time.
In an interview with the Post-Tribune, Green said she hasn’t had any conversations with any state legislators or leaders about redistricting in Indiana. But, Green said she’s “grateful” that Braun called for the special session and that the state legislature “will make the right decision in supporting President Trump.”
“The stakes are very high in this race. It’s incredibly important for Hoosiers to fight fire with fire when it comes down to these things like redistricting because we’ve seen how the Democrats have gerrymandered states in New England, and we’ve seen how they’ve done it in Illinois. We need Republicans to continue to have a voice in Congress after Democrats counted millions of illegals in a census to get more blue state entitlements in regards to representation than they were supposed to,” Green said.
Tim Edson, Green’s spokesman, pointed to former President Joe Biden signing an executive order in January 2021 reversing Trump’s efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from being included in census data.
The census, which is completed every 10 years, counts everyone living in the country at the time, and the data is used for community planning — like building grocery stores, schools and roads — where federal spending should be allocated and for apportionment of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the U.S. Census Bureau website.
The bureau’s data includes “foreign-born” populations, which encompasses naturalized U.S. citizens, non-citizen U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, temporary migrants, humanitarian migrants and unauthorized migrants, according to its website.
Gerrymandering, which occurs when the political party in charge draws voting districts in its favor, has been a tool used by Democratic and Republican state leaderships, according to the Brennan Center.
After the 2020 census, Republicans controlled the redistricting process in more states than Democrats, which resulted in “a net 16 fewer Democratic or Democratic-leaning districts,” according to the center, an independent, nonpartisan law and policy organization.
When asked if Indiana calling a special session to redistrict could be viewed as an effort at gerrymandering, Green said the question was “an interesting semantic connection.” In certain states, voters have become increasingly upset when the percentage of votes for a political party doesn’t match the amount of representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives, she said.
“When we look at who started it or we look at who’s benefiting from it, I believe we are answering in response to the current situation, and it’s just us fighting back as Republicans,” Green said.
Green resigned as Indiana’s Secretary of Public Safety on Sept. 5 amid an ethics complaint that alleged she engaged in political activity, ghost employment, misuse of state property, and prohibition against retaliation while on state time.
Edson said the complaint is “a baseless, politically motivated hit job.” Green wasn’t given the opportunity to obtain counsel or respond to the “false allegations” before the complaint was filed with the Ethics commission, Edson said.
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“The truth is on Jennifer-Ruth Green’s side and this politically motivated smear campaign will fail,” Edson said.
Green, an Air Force veteran and Lieutenant Colonel in the Air National Guard, said in a statement announcing her candidacy that she’s “ready to finish the mission” as she faces Mrvan for the second time. In 2022, Green received 47.2% of the vote to Mrvan’s 52.8% of the vote. Green won Porter and LaPorte counties, while Mrvan won in Lake County, according to election data.
Green said Lake County continues to vote more Republican with each election and that “President Trump’s policies are going to connect” moving into the 2026 midterm election.
“We see that President Trump is making the Republican Party the working-class party again. We see that in Lake County there’s just a ton of hard-working people who want a Representative on their side,” Green said.
Mrvan said in a statement that the Republican party nominee for the 2026 midterm election will be decided by Republican voters in the primary.
“I am running for re-election and welcome the opportunity to highlight my proven record of fighting for working families with whomever is on the general election ballot,” Mrvan said.
If elected, Green said in the statement that she would help Republicans keep the House and stop Democrats “from impeaching President Trump and advancing their socialist agenda.”
Green said in the statement she would stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Trump to rebuild American manufacturing and create middle-class jobs; increase salaries and lower prices; support farmers and rural communities; secure the border and deportations; and defend life, the Second Amendment and law enforcement.
Green said she looks forward to the 2026 campaign.
“I look forward to earning the vote, trust and confidence of Hoosiers to get to Washington and making sure that we can have solid representation there,” Green said.
Lake County Republican Party Chairman Randy Niemeyer, who ran against Mrvan in 2024 and lost, said he’s “possibly” going to run for the First Congressional District in 2026.
“I’m working through a lot of details,” Niemeyer said.
Niemeyer said he would like to congratulate Green on her candidacy announcement.
“It’s sure to be a spirited primary season,” Niemeyer said.
Republican Barb Regnitz, finishing her third year as a Porter County commissioner representing Center District, filed a statement of organization last week to run for the First Congressional district seat.
“For the past 100 years, Democrats have controlled Indiana’s First District,” said Regnitz in a news release. “Now, with radical far-left activists steering their party, people are concerned about endless investigations, attempts at impeachment, and a return to the failed policies of the past. Our country needs leaders who will defend President Trump’s agenda, restore accountability, and preserve our constitutional rights. For these reasons — and more — I’m running to your next U.S. Representative.”