Republican Congresswoman Erin Houchin, who represents the Ninth Congressional District of Indiana, made a stop in Jackson County on Thursday as part of her tour through the state.
Houchin and communications director Heidi Reutebuch spent most of the day in Jackson County.
“We started out visiting Guardian Bikes, and we’re also going to FosTecH today and Brownstown Electric,” Houchin said. “We made a stop in Floyd County on Monday, and what I’m trying to do is to talk with and meet with as many people as I can while I’m here in the district.”
Houchin will be in Indiana for the next two weeks before she heads back to Washington, D.C. She said it has been really great to be home.
Her hometown is Salem, and she married her husband, Dustin, in 2002, and they have three children.
Houchin said it’s nice in the D.C. office because they have Reutebuch and Legislative Director Jon Van Buren both from Floyd County, Legislative Assistant Liam Tuveson from Batesville and a staff assistant went to Butler University.
“So we’ve got a lot of Indiana folks,” she said. “Amanda Lowery (from Vallonia) is our district director here, and we’re glad to have her. Heidi’s family is from Salem.”
She also toured the new Seymour Fire Station 2 on West Second Street on Thursday. While there, she saw the firefighters’ living quarters, kitchen, training and conference area, equipment rooms, garage and laundry room.
She asked Fire Chief Brad Lucas if they had a lot of turnover of manpower at the fire department and if they pay more than the Seymour Police Department.
“No, we don’t have a lot of turnover, and we pay exactly the same as the police department in Seymour,” he told her. “Although there have been quite a few retirements in recent years and since I’ve become chief, several guys under me have retired, and I’ve made it through 40 years here.”
Houchin serves 18 counties in southern Indiana, including Brown, Clark, Dearborn, Decatur, Dubois, Floyd, Franklin, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Lawrence, Monroe, Ohio, Ripley, Scott, Switzerland and Washington.
She received her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and holds a master’s degree in political management from The George Washington University.
Prior to serving in the state Senate, Houchin served as southeast Indiana regional director for U.S. Sen. Dan Coats, which is what led to her service in the state Senate. She also was a governor’s appointee to the Indiana Commission for Women.
As for her biggest accomplishment while she was at the Statehouse, Houchin said it was her broadband initiative.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb was in Washington, D.C., earlier this month for the National Governors Association Winter Meetings and visited the U.S. Capitol.
“He visited and I was able to take him to the Lincoln Room, which is off the Statuary Hall,” Houchin said. “He had never been, so I got to show him something that he hadn’t experienced before.”
Houchin is the first woman to represent Indiana’s Ninth District in the U.S. Congress, and she will be serving on three committees in the 118th Congress.
The committees include the House Financial Services Committee, House Rules Committee and House Education and Workforce Committee.
“It has been an eye-opening experience, and the thing I’ve been hearing the most when I’m out is ‘Fight for us,’ and I will,” she said. “What people don’t know is that there are an unlimited amount of things to fight for.”
Houchin said there also are a lot of things on which people can work together.