Brian Paasch
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Brian Paasch (Republican Party) ran for election to the Indiana House of Representatives to represent District 40. He lost in the Republican primary on May 7, 2024.
Paasch completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Brian Paasch was born in Sacramento, California. Paasch earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Davis in 1983 and an associate degree from Ivy Tech Community College in 2018. His career experience includes working as a data analyst in third party logistics.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Indiana House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Indiana House of Representatives District 40
Incumbent Gregory Steuerwald defeated Robert Pope III in the general election for Indiana House of Representatives District 40 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Gregory Steuerwald (R) | 58.4 | 17,489 |
 | Robert Pope III (D)  | 41.6 | 12,478 | |
| Total votes: 29,967 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Indiana House of Representatives District 40
Robert Pope III advanced from the Democratic primary for Indiana House of Representatives District 40 on May 7, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Robert Pope III | 100.0 | 1,205 |
| Total votes: 1,205 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Indiana House of Representatives District 40
Incumbent Gregory Steuerwald defeated Brian Paasch in the Republican primary for Indiana House of Representatives District 40 on May 7, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Gregory Steuerwald | 63.2 | 3,519 |
 | Brian Paasch | 36.8 | 2,050 | |
| Total votes: 5,569 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Paasch in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Brian Paasch completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Paasch's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Is this really about me? Or about We the People? I am offering to serve We the People, Hoosier citizens in State House District 40. Our current establishment “Representatives” serve powerful, wealthy special interests, many from outside Indiana, some from outside the United States. We Hoosiers have lost our voice. I will fight to restore our voice into the government that We the People formed to secure the rights we describe in our Indiana State and our Federal Constitutions!
- Are we Hoosier Citizens comfortable with foreign interests buying Indiana land? The establishment entrenched in government, at best, doesn’t care about our concern. At worst, they are enabling foreign access to our resources. I will NOT serve foreign interests; I will serve Hoosier citizens!
- Are we Hoosier Citizens happy about skyrocketing property taxes? (If you rent, be careful saying you don’t care. Part of your rent is used to pay those increasing taxes.) When a real estate bubble happens, the government moves quickly to reassess our property to increase the taxes we pay to the government. Notice that self-serving circle there? The government decides what our property is worth to decide how much money they’ll take from us for the government. We need major property tax reform. Not just a little tweak on the fringe but rip up the entire rigged mess and start over, with real Representatives for We the People getting a large say in replacing the government’s self-serving process.
- Do we Hoosier Citizens trust the current election process? It seems the more questions We the People ask, the more defensive and dismissive the government response. As investigators dig into the issue, more disturbing facts are discovered. Does the entire election process, from verifying who is voting to securing the election process to properly counting the vote, need an overhaul?
The COVID debacle cost We the People a lot of freedom. Self-aggrandizing characters who saw themselves as our superiors seized power they never should have touched. The establishment members of the Indiana legislator said nothing and did nothing in their role of “representing” We the People and “securing” our rights. One of many acts of flat-out tyranny, was the newly discovered ability of those holding raw power over us to demand that we undergo dangerous medical procedures to satisfy their lust for control and happiness. Should people who hold power over us be allowed to demand medical procedures on our bodies to satisfy their desires? NO!! We the People must fight back against this grotesque power grab.
The Declaration of Independence, The US Constitution and Amendments, and the Indiana State Constitution are all important reads.
My often go-to reference when researching something is: The Federalist Papers In Modern Language: Indexed for Today's Political Issues, by Mary E Webster (Editor). Available at Amazon, ISBN-10: 0936783214.
“Are” most important? Or “should be” most important? Elected officials are supposed to be public servants. They are supposed to take their oath of office, to uphold the State and Federal Constitutions, seriously. Those documents are OUR rulebook for THEM to follow. Those Constitutions belong to We the People and those documents are written to define our inalienable rights (NOT government-granted permissions!!) which our public servants are hired (elected) to secure.
Depends on the definition of “successful”. I am going to define it as a citizen who, when sent into public service, does indeed uphold and defend the State and Federal Constitutions. As a citizen-legislator, I want to be that servant who truly works to secure the rights of my fellow citizens as defined in the Constitution. I want to firmly remember, every day, that the government is formed by the people, for the people and I follow the rulebook, the Constitution, written and held by We the People.
What qualities do I have to accomplish that? I like to learn (I’m still a student, don’t ask me how many classes I’ve taken, its embarrassing!), so I’ll enjoy learning a new job, working for We the People. I am stubborn, I don’t easily bow to authority when told to do something unwise or flat out wrong. Elsewhere, I wrote I know people who lost their job because they would not do the jab. I am one of those. At a job I enjoyed, I was told “get jabbed or get gone”. I left.
Uphold and defend the Indiana State and also the United States Constitutions.
I hope that after I am dead, someone remembers that I believed God and I stood for Him.
The first historic event that I recall was the assassination of President John. F. Kennedy. I had to look up the date because I certainly did not remember that! November 22, 1963. I was just past three years old. My parents’ mood was deeply stunned, everything seemed very quiet for several days.
I was a kid, early teens. I went door to door in my suburban neighborhood offering to stain or paint fences. After one job, the homeowner offered me a job working for him painting apartments that he owned. I did that on weekends for him until I finished high school.
The Bible. Because it is God’s Word to us explaining who He is and how the relationship between Him, the Creator, and us, His creation, is supposed to work. It is a love story telling how we rebel and fight against Him, and how He keeps offering His Love to us in spite of us.
Some random scientist on a starship out exploring the universe. Not the center of attention, but just a curious thinker out exploring the unknown!
According to our State Constitution, the Governor is the state’s most senior Executive. That office has an enormous administrative role. The Governor is welcome to suggest, even champion legislative ideas, but the State Constitution is clear, the legislature, the Indiana General Assembly conceives and crafts bills. The Governor can veto a final bill; however, the General Assembly has a Constitutional mechanism to override the veto. The General Assembly is the law-making body. The Governor is the most senior state administrator. The two branches of government (in the Indiana State Constitution, the branches are “departments”) do very different jobs. Reasonable communication between these separate functions is fine, although as public servants serving We the People, a very large degree of transparency should be expected by Hoosier citizens.
We the People are always facing the question, are we Hoosiers willing to be a citizen republic and be responsible for electing public servants for government roles OR do we want “leaders” to rule over us, to “take care” of us according to what they see as best for us. This should always be a serious question for We the People to consider, whether this decade, or next, or next…
I think it depends on the nature, background, education, skills, and goals of the individual. However, I am disturbed at the hinted intent of the question, seemingly to add additional “requirements” for the position. We the People elect representatives of our choosing. The Indiana State Constitution has a few straightforward requirements for a State Representative candidate. But there are no other requirements. (Well, currently there is a battle between We the People versus the Indiana General Assembly because the IGA added additional requirements for candidates that conflict with the straightforward requirements within the Constitution. But that is another story.)
Personally, and this is simply my opinion as a citizen, I think a candidate for Representative should have a general familiarity with the Indiana State Constitution, especially any text addressing the job of the Indiana General Assembly. Recall that I have written, the Constitution is a document from We the People to the government that defines the role of government. If someone doesn’t know what the job requirements are (as defined in the constitution), how can one know what the job requires?
Personally, and this is simply my opinion as a citizen, I think a candidate for Representative should have a general familiarity with the Indiana State Constitution, especially any text addressing the job of the Indiana General Assembly. Recall that I have written, the Constitution is a document from We the People to the government that defines the role of government. If someone doesn’t know what the job requirements are (as defined in the constitution), how can one know what the job requires?
Answering only for me, building collaborations with liberty-minded peers will be very important. Long ago I worked in life sciences. Very few people were so thoroughly capable that they knew everything about everything. I certainly was NOT one of those very rare individuals! To accomplish complicated projects required teamwork. Bringing together people with different skills relevant to the current task was not only necessary, but it was a lot of fun! HOWEVER, note that I wrote, “liberty-minded peers”. I do believe all the team members must share a common goal. Building a team with members who have different, even opposite goals is foolish.
At the federal level, I am inspired by the likes of Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo. Currently, I think Thomas Massie looks pretty good.
Here in Indiana, I very much appreciate the bold determination to uphold Constitutional principles by Representatives Curt Nisly and John Jacob. Sadly, the establishment found these principled defenders of liberty so offensive that they used redistricting to destroy Reps Nisly and Jacob in 2021 and 2022.
Here in Indiana, I very much appreciate the bold determination to uphold Constitutional principles by Representatives Curt Nisly and John Jacob. Sadly, the establishment found these principled defenders of liberty so offensive that they used redistricting to destroy Reps Nisly and Jacob in 2021 and 2022.
I certainly hope not! And if I do, someone please slap me hard! As I noted above, the establishment power in government destroyed two liberty-minded public servants in the 2022 primary. I can sit in my chair and complain, or I can get up and do what I can to replace them; to bring liberty-focused principles back into the Representative side of the Indiana General Assembly.
First, knowing people who lost jobs because they would not obey managers demanding that staff submit to dangerous medical procedures (experiments actually, but that terminology goes deep into the weeds!) is a point of huge concern for me. That such a thing could happen in “the land of the free, home of the brave” is beyond astonishing to me.
Second, as I am out knocking on doors, the most frequent concern I am hearing are that foreign interests are buying up Hoosier land and assets and that very powerful and wealthy special interests from outside Indiana are probably doing the same. (There are some huge and dramatic projects happening in Indiana that are very notable for their lack of transparency. WHO is doing WHAT exactly and HOW?) I do NOT want to become a tyrant and tell land and asset owners what they can and cannot do with their property UNLESS they encumber their neighbors and communities. (Maybe even a sizable region of the state!) There seems to be some weird and mysterious stuff happening that might have a have a sinister tone. I think it is fair for concerned citizens AND their representatives to ask, “what is going on??”.
Second, as I am out knocking on doors, the most frequent concern I am hearing are that foreign interests are buying up Hoosier land and assets and that very powerful and wealthy special interests from outside Indiana are probably doing the same. (There are some huge and dramatic projects happening in Indiana that are very notable for their lack of transparency. WHO is doing WHAT exactly and HOW?) I do NOT want to become a tyrant and tell land and asset owners what they can and cannot do with their property UNLESS they encumber their neighbors and communities. (Maybe even a sizable region of the state!) There seems to be some weird and mysterious stuff happening that might have a have a sinister tone. I think it is fair for concerned citizens AND their representatives to ask, “what is going on??”.
As I have written elsewhere, in Indiana the Indiana General Assembly has sole authority to write legislation. This is not a legitimate question. It is the Constitutionally defined job of the IGA to create bills and send the finished product to the Governor. I will note for clarity, the IGA does not have the authority to create public law that overrules the Constitution. So if the IGA writes a bill that says the Governor can seize whatever power he wants whenever he declares it for the "good of society", then that bill is in direct conflict with the Constitution and should never see the light of day.
I don’t know that it would be “first” but certainly in the top three, I want to protect my fellow Hoosier citizens from ever being given a “choice”, “get jabbed or else!!”. When one citizen rises up with a bit of power over another and then demands dangerous activity from the subordinate for satisfaction of the superior, that is reprehensible.
So far, one individual, Daniel Stock MD.
House Government and Regulatory Reform
House Elections and Apportionment
Our government system is a Constitutional Republic where We the People create (define in our document, the Constitution) government to secure our inherent rights. Those rights are described in the Constitution. The government is supposed to be formed by the people for the people. Simply, the government works for us, We the People. We are the hiring managers; the government should follow our employee handbook (the Constitution). In order to support government function, the government forcibly takes money from us. Generally speaking, our government should be crystal clear in how much, when, where, and why they are spending the money they take from us. (As a side note, I also believe the government should not be its own auditor. But there definitely should be routine auditing process that is also transparent.)
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Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 19, 2024
Current members of the Indiana House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Todd Huston
Majority Leader:Matthew Lehman
Representatives
District 1
Carolyn Jackson (D)
District 2
Earl Harris (D)
District 3
Ragen Hatcher (D)
District 4
Edmond Soliday (R)
District 5
Dale DeVon (R)
District 6
Maureen Bauer (D)
District 7
Jake Teshka (R)
District 8
Ryan Dvorak (D)
District 9
Vacant
District 10
Charles Moseley (D)
District 11
District 12
Mike Andrade (D)
District 13
Matt Commons (R)
District 14
Vernon Smith (D)
District 15
Harold Slager (R)
District 16
Kendell Culp (R)
District 17
Jack Jordan (R)
District 18
David Abbott (R)
District 19
Julie Olthoff (R)
District 20
Jim Pressel (R)
District 21
Timothy Wesco (R)
District 22
Craig Snow (R)
District 23
Ethan Manning (R)
District 24
Hunter Smith (R)
District 25
Becky Cash (R)
District 26
Chris Campbell (D)
District 27
Sheila Klinker (D)
District 28
Jeffrey Thompson (R)
District 29
District 30
District 31
Lori Goss-Reaves (R)
District 32
District 33
John Prescott (R)
District 34
Sue Errington (D)
District 35
Elizabeth Rowray (R)
District 36
Kyle Pierce (R)
District 37
Todd Huston (R)
District 38
Heath VanNatter (R)
District 39
Daniel Lopez (R)
District 40
District 41
Mark Genda (R)
District 42
Tim Yocum (R)
District 43
Tonya Pfaff (D)
District 44
Beau Baird (R)
District 45
Bruce Borders (R)
District 46
Bob Heaton (R)
District 47
Robb Greene (R)
District 48
Doug Miller (R)
District 49
Joanna King (R)
District 50
Lorissa Sweet (R)
District 51
Tony Isa (R)
District 52
Ben Smaltz (R)
District 53
Ethan Lawson (R)
District 54
Cory Criswell (R)
District 55
District 56
Bradford Barrett (R)
District 57
Craig Haggard (R)
District 58
Michelle Davis (R)
District 59
Ryan Lauer (R)
District 60
Peggy Mayfield (R)
District 61
Matt Pierce (D)
District 62
Dave Hall (R)
District 63
Shane Lindauer (R)
District 64
Matt Hostettler (R)
District 65
Christopher May (R)
District 66
Zach Payne (R)
District 67
Alex Zimmerman (R)
District 68
Garrett Bascom (R)
District 69
Jim Lucas (R)
District 70
Karen Engleman (R)
District 71
District 72
Edward Clere (R)
District 73
Jennifer Meltzer (R)
District 74
Steve Bartels (R)
District 75
Cindy Ledbetter (R)
District 76
Wendy McNamara (R)
District 77
Alex Burton (D)
District 78
Tim O'Brien (R)
District 79
Matthew Lehman (R)
District 80
Phil GiaQuinta (D)
District 81
Martin Carbaugh (R)
District 82
Kyle Miller (D)
District 83
Christopher Judy (R)
District 84
Bob Morris (R)
District 85
David Heine (R)
District 86
Edward DeLaney (D)
District 87
Carey Hamilton (D)
District 88
Chris Jeter (R)
District 89
Mitch Gore (D)
District 90
Andrew Ireland (R)
District 91
Robert Behning (R)
District 92
Renee Pack (D)
District 93
Julie McGuire (R)
District 94
Cherrish Pryor (D)
District 95
John Bartlett (D)
District 96
Gregory Porter (D)
District 97
Justin Moed (D)
District 98
District 99
Vanessa Summers (D)
District 100
Robert Johnson (D)
Republican Party (70)
Democratic Party (29)
Vacancies (1)
