Tim Barr

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Tim Barr

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 2, 2020

Military

Personal

Birthplace

Decatur, Ind.

Religion

Christian

Profession

Teacher

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

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Personal Facebook

Tim Barr (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Indiana State Senate to represent District 16. He lost in the Democratic primary on June 2, 2020.

Barr completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Tim Barr was born in Decatur, Indiana. He attended Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana University, Purdue University-Fort Wayne, and the Community College of The Air Force. He obtained an undergraduate degree in May 2017.

Barr is a teacher. His professional credentials include an Indiana State Teacher's License: Historical Perspectives, Government and Citizenship, Sociology, Economics, and Physical Education and CompTIA Security +.

As of 2020, Barr was a member of the American Legion, the education committee chair of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a district council member of the East Allen Educator's Association (EAEA), a legislative action team member of the Indiana State Teacher's Association (ISTA), and a member of the National Education Association (NEA).

Barr joined the United States Air Force in October 2013.

Elections

2020

See also: Indiana State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Indiana State Senate District 16

Incumbent Justin Busch defeated Juli Dominguez in the general election for Indiana State Senate District 16 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Justin Busch (R)	57.9	35,382
		Juli Dominguez (D)	42.1	25,767

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 61,149
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Indiana State Senate District 16

Juli Dominguez defeated Tim Barr in the Democratic primary for Indiana State Senate District 16 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Juli Dominguez	52.1	5,075
		Tim Barr	47.9	4,659

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,734
= 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 16

Incumbent Justin Busch defeated Tom Rhoades in the Republican primary for Indiana State Senate District 16 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Justin Busch	69.0	7,796
		Tom Rhoades	31.0	3,495

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,291
= 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.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Tim Barr completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Barr's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

My name is Tim Barr. I grew up in Decatur, IN just south of Fort Wayne. I graduated from Bellmont High School in 2011. I graduated from IPFW in 2017 with a B.S. in Education. I currently teach high school world history at Leo Jr/Sr High school where I also help out with the boys soccer program. I currently serve my country as a citizen-airman in the Indiana Air National Guard at the 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort Wayne. I've been a proud Fort Wayne resident since 2013. I'm excited about the regional growth Fort Wayne has experienced and can't wait to be a part of helping Northeast Indiana prosper.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I'm running to put our children, our families, and our neighbors first. As a political outsider I'm not beholden to special interests.
• I have a strong record of serving our community and putting people first through both of my careers. I'm a high school history teacher and an airman in the Indiana Air National Guard.
• Indiana is in a crisis right now. We're in a crisis because of the failures of people in office right now at every level of government. Part of solving that crisis is a change in leadership you can trust. Together we can bring integrity back to the government.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

First, I want to advocate for our students and teachers by supporting our schools and making education a priority in Indiana.

Many Hoosiers were working two or three jobs and struggling before the COVID-19 crisis. I want to ensure that high quality jobs are available that pay a living wage to grow the middle class. Growing the middle class will be key to economic recovery and a better Indiana.

We have too many barriers to voting. I want to guarantee everyone is represented fairly and has an opportunity to vote through election reform. Same day voter registration and no fault vote by mail are common sense proposals that Hoosiers want.

The most basic promise we can make to our children is to leave them better off than we had it. We need to leave Indiana in better shape than we found it for future generations. I want to keep our drinking water safe and take care of the environment.

And finally, I believe in the Golden Rule. I believe that it doesn't matter what color your skin is, what religion you practice, your gender, what country you come from, or who you choose to love, everyone deserves an equal opportunity at achieving The American Dream. We need to reduce institutional barriers to success and equal treatment under the law for all Hoosiers.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I'm a leader and a follower. Wherever I am I'm looking for someone to mentor me and be a mentor to. I think the person I look up to most now is Mr. Lance. He's a veteran teacher and the history department chair at my school. His room is also right across from me. He teaches mostly 8th grade students and I have a lot of them the following years in 9th and 10th. To hear how the students talk about Mr. Lance makes me show even greater respect for him than I already have. Not only does he do a good job of teaching the content but he builds strong relationships with his students. He's also a strong voice within the faculty as proven leader. With all the love and respect everyone has for him he's also incredibly humble. His leadership examples in and out of the classroom are great for anyone to look up to.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Good characteristics of leaders are also reflective of good characteristics of elected officials. They need to be honest and trustworthy. We need to bring government decisions out from behind closed doors and into the public forum for debate and input. They need to be good listeners. We need to listen to the people and hear their concerns. They need to be moral. We need elected office holders that can be good examples for our children and someone to look up to.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I'm a great active listener. Some people can't wait to get their word in and are already thinking about a response. I listen to people while they are speaking. I work great in a team both as a leader and a follower. My ability to listen and work well with others will be key in leading Northeast Indiana out of this crisis and into the future.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

I believe we need leaders that will put families before political ideology and party loyalty. Officials need to work together and put people before special interests.

What legacy would you like to leave?

The most basic promise parents make to their kids is for their kids to have things better than they had it. I want to leave Indiana and Hoosiers in a better position than I found it. That means making progress toward our campaign goals of putting families first.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I was nine years old during the terrorist attacks on September 11th. The kids in school were all born after that dark day in American history. As a history teacher and someone that lived during the event I'm proud of the responsibility I have to tell the story to future generations. My cousin Drew's birthday and my grandparent's anniversary also happens to fall on September 11th.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I was hired at Wendy's when I was fifteen years old and I worked there until the summer after high school graduation. I learned a lot and established lifelong friendships from my time there. My mom is a career laborer in a factory. She's worked in union and non union places. After learning about unions and their role in the workplace I knew I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. Even at the young age of fifteen I had an interest in forming a union at Wendy's. If I had the tools and resources we have today I probably would have been successful or at least a good shot to fail.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Taylor Swift: Shake it off. One of my college professors would always play a cheerful song in the five minutes before our class started to set the mood for energy and excitement. I was thinking about my students while grading some assignments and I thought about my empty classroom. Between passing periods music can often be heard coming from my classroom in an effort to set the exciting and happy tone that Gregg (My Prof) had set for his students.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

Indiana has done well to establish a large budget surplus to be prepared for economic hardships. We've reached that point of economic hardship with COVID-19 requiring many businesses to limit hours, close, lay off workers, and consumers to reduce leisure purchases. These steps have resulted in lower tax revenue for the state. The state will make up the difference with unemployment insurance and a surplus that totals over three billion dollars.

The greatest challenge Hoosiers will face will be how to maintain strong reserves for future economic downturn while at the same time properly funding vital resources and putting people first. The surplus we had was built on the backs and sacrifices of Hoosiers desperately in need of assistance such as the Indiana Department of Child Services.

The Republican led coalition underfunded core services. Just a few of the critical services that are underfunded include: funding to fix Indiana roads, investing in workforce development, funding services to lower infant and maternal mortality, expanding funding for kindergarten and pre-k, mental health services, and investing in our schools. These are just a few of the core services neglected in the name of building a healthy reserve.

It's a tall order, but it can be done without raising taxes. We need to grow and strengthen the economy. We can do this by electing individuals that run on a families first platform. An economy is only as strong or as weak as the middle class. By supporting and growing the middle class Indiana will recover, thrive and prosper.

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

I'm not interested in running for anything other than the Indiana General Assembly. Indiana State Senate District 16 is the best place for my experience to give back to Hoosiers and do the most good.

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

I've had many personal and passionate conversations from voters. I've also learned there are a lot of happily married families with split politics. There are many passionate people on both sides of the great debate between Women's Rights and Pro Life. Sometimes they live in the same house and are happily married. On a cold day of voter outreach I had a lengthy conversation with a great couple. We had a very thoughtful, honest, and engaging conversation. Michael is a republican pro life voter. I listened to him express his concerns and viewpoints, and he listened to me. It was a great honest conversation between two people that care about other people.

After getting to know me as a person and not a political stereotype Michael said he will probably vote for me in November. It started to snow when I was leaving his house. They offered me coffee to keep me warm while engaging his neighbors. Now there's a coffee mug that Michael and his wife sent me home with sitting on my desk at school so that I can reflect upon our friendship.

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

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Footnotes

[show]

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

La Keisha Jackson (D)

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)