Ronald Saunders III
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Ronald Saunders III (Democratic Party) (also known as Ronnie) ran for election to the Indiana State Senate to represent District 20. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Saunders completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Saunders was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana State University in 2003. Saunders' professional experience includes serving as a firefighter. He has also served as a special education instructor and as a state licensing agency administrator. [1]
Elections
2020
See also: Indiana State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Indiana State Senate District 20
Scott Baldwin defeated Ronald Saunders III in the general election for Indiana State Senate District 20 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Scott Baldwin (R) | 62.5 | 56,629 |
 | Ronald Saunders III (D)  | 37.5 | 34,004 | |
| Total votes: 90,633 | |||
| = 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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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Indiana State Senate District 20
Ronald Saunders III advanced from the Democratic primary for Indiana State Senate District 20 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ronald Saunders III | 100.0 | 10,767 |
| Total votes: 10,767 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Indiana State Senate District 20
Scott Baldwin defeated John Gaylor in the Republican primary for Indiana State Senate District 20 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Scott Baldwin | 68.2 | 14,072 |
| John Gaylor | 31.8 | 6,573 | ||
| Total votes: 20,645 | |||
| = 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Campaign themes
2020
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released September 15, 2020 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ronald Saunders III completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Saunders' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I'm a firefighter/EMT with the Indianapolis Fire Department and lives in Westfield with his wife and two daughters. I graduated from Pike High School and earned my Bachelors of Science in Legal Studies from Indiana State University. Prior to becoming a firefighter, I served as an educator and an administer at a state government agency.
- I want every Hoosier's voice to be heard at the table.
- Every citizen should have equal protection under law.
- All residents of Indiana should have access to health care, no matter of employer or employment status.
I want to ensure that all Hoosiers have access to excellent public schools where the focus is quality education not standardized testing; a quality public education system is fundamental to ensuring Indiana's future economic successes. I also would ensure that our health programs, specifically Healthy Indiana Plan, are being used to protect our most vulnerable citizens, including children and individuals with mental health concerns and I am committed to reducing the cost of health insurance premiums and costs, including drug costs, and finding a solution to our healthcare structure that doesn't tie someone's insurance to their employment. I believe that Hoosiers deserve the fullest protection of our laws, especially from people who would do them harm simply because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, or race-there is work to do to strengthen our bias crime bill into a comprehensive hate crimes bill. I support common sense gun reform.
My grandfather Henry Jordan because of work ethic and the importance of family. Dr Martin Luther King Jr because of his steadfast pursuit of equality and justice for all people in all aspects of our society. Incidentally, these men share the same birth date.
I remember watching the Challenger space shuttle tragedy on TV with my dad. I was only 4 years old at the time but I remember it really scaring me. I didn't want to ride in airplanes after that and didn't until I was 21 years old.
My very first job was at Kroger where I regathered carts and bagged groceries; I was 15 years old. Two months later, I turned 16 and started working at Arby's in the same plaza with the Kroger and worked through high school and the summer between my first and second years of college.
I do believe that it can be helpful but I don't believe that it is a requirement. I think that people with good ideas and a willingness to work hard for all citizens are what our legislative bodies need. They should be informed and in touch with what their constituents are seeking from representatives.
I believe that climate change is the greatest challenge that will are and will continue to face. Indiana is a mostly rural state with approximately 23 million acres of farmland; these supply food not only to Hoosiers but to many people across the country and it would behoove us to not invest in preparing all of our industries, including farmers, for better innovation regarding renewable and clean energy while safeguarding all citizen from extreme weather events.
There should be a partnership between the legislature and the governor. Our ultimate goal is to do right by the citizens who elected us. The governor should provide the leadership that the state needs while the legislators bring the issues of their constituents to the Assembly floor and advocate for their causes.
It is absolutely imperative to build relationships with other legislators because there is no way that business will get done otherwise. Also, no one person or party has a monopoly on good ideas-collaboration is key for all perspectives to be seen and have value when crafting solutions.
I believe that there should be a non-partisan commission that is independent of the legislative and executive branches. I would like to see a commission that is made up of equal members of the two major parties but they be elected by the people and not appointed by the governor.
Education & Career Development Committee, Energy & Environmental Affairs Committee, Judiciary Committee, Pensions & Labor Committee, Utilities & Labor Committee
I'm not a current legislator but if asked to serve in leadership, I would gladly and willingly do so.
I like Cory Booker and his style of nose-to-grindstone, getting to work for the people. A couple of Hoosier legislators whom I admire are former Gov Evan Bayh and Rep Karlee Macer; both are pragmatic and relatable people who are good at working with people from all walks of life and showed empathy when interacting with constituents.
Not at this time, I would like to just focus on representing the people of my district.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 22, 2020
Current members of the Indiana State Senate
Leadership
Majority Leader:Chris Garten
Senators
District 1
Dan Dernulc (R)
District 2
Lonnie Randolph (D)
District 3
Mark Spencer (D)
District 4
Rodney Pol (D)
District 5
Ed Charbonneau (R)
District 6
Rick Niemeyer (R)
District 7
Brian Buchanan (R)
District 8
Mike Bohacek (R)
District 9
Ryan Mishler (R)
District 10
David Niezgodski (D)
District 11
Linda Rogers (R)
District 12
Blake Doriot (R)
District 13
Susan Glick (R)
District 14
Tyler Johnson (R)
District 15
Liz Brown (R)
District 16
Justin Busch (R)
District 17
Andy Zay (R)
District 18
Stacey Donato (R)
District 19
Travis Holdman (R)
District 20
Scott Baldwin (R)
District 21
James Buck (R)
District 22
Ronnie Alting (R)
District 23
Spencer Deery (R)
District 24
Brett Clark (R)
District 25
Mike Gaskill (R)
District 26
Scott Alexander (R)
District 27
Jeff Raatz (R)
District 28
Michael Crider (R)
District 29
J.D. Ford (D)
District 30
Fady Qaddoura (D)
District 31
Kyle Walker (R)
District 32
Aaron Freeman (R)
District 33
Greg Taylor (D)
District 34
District 35
Michael Young (R)
District 36
Cyndi Carrasco (R)
District 37
Rodric Bray (R)
District 38
Greg Goode (R)
District 39
Eric Bassler (R)
District 40
Shelli Yoder (D)
District 41
Greg Walker (R)
District 42
Jean Leising (R)
District 43
Randy Maxwell (R)
District 44
Eric Koch (R)
District 45
Chris Garten (R)
District 46
Andrea Hunley (D)
District 47
Gary Byrne (R)
District 48
Daryl Schmitt (R)
District 49
Jim Tomes (R)
District 50
Vaneta Becker (R)
Republican Party (40)
Democratic Party (10)
