By Niki Kelly | Editor-in-Chief
“I don’t know that voters will necessarily see the name Lincoln Party as being an independent party. It would be like us saying it’s the Kennedy Party, but it’s really not Democrats.” — Democrat Robin Winston
Now that college football is back and all is right with the world — well at least for Michigan — let’s see what news we have for you.
Greg Ballard is the face of a new political party. But what does the party stand for?
Union membership continues to grow in key states nationwide.
Our partners at Chalkbeat Indiana lay out the school referendums coming your way.
Indiana secretary of state candidate Greg Ballard speaks at the Statehouse before delivering petition signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot on July 14, 2026. (Photo by Tom Davies/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
What's the Lincoln Party? Ballard's secretary of state run could expand Indiana ballot access
By Tom Davies
Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard touts his run for secretary of state under the new Lincoln Party banner as a way to burst open an easier path for independent-minded candidates to make the election ballot.
ClaraMary Winebrenner, a Republican office holder-turned-independent candidate in DeKalb County, hopes the new party could break up what she sees as the current two-party monopoly.
But Max Engling, the Republican secretary of state candidate, has taken aim at the Lincoln Party push as lacking a defined ideology and transparency in how it would select future candidates.
COMMENTARY
In 2021, Medicaid accounted for about 15% of Indiana’s total budget. By 2023, that share had climbed to 18%. In the state’s most recent biennial budget, Medicaid now represents 22$ of total spending. (Getty Images)
$68 billion is up for grabs in Medicaid.
By Chris Mitchem
What would you do with $68 billion? That is the size of the decision Indiana is about to make.
The state recently launched a procurement so large it will determine who delivers health care to nearly 1.5 million Hoosiers. The companies that win will not be building highways or upgrading software systems. They will be responsible for caring for some of Indiana’s most vulnerable residents.
NATIONAL NEWS
Members of Virginia Professional Firefighters association hold signs during their biannual convention in May to protest Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s veto of collective bargaining legislation. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
Labor unions are growing, but where depends on state politics
By Kevin Hardy
Labor union membership continues to climb in the United States, though the increase remains sharply divided by the politics of individual states.
Last year, the nation added more than 411,000 union members — the largest annual growth since 2008, according to a study published just ahead of the Labor Day holiday by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Indiana Supreme Court to hear oral arguments Sept. 10 on state’s abortion ban, absentee ballot count | The Indiana Lawyer (Paywall)
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