INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Senate Democratic Leader Shelli Yoder (D-Bloomington) issued the following statement after Gov. Mike Braun announced Indiana’s alignment with Turning Point USA and its Club America effort, following Secretary of State Diego Morales’ voter registration partnership with the group’s high school arm.
Braun’s proclamation specifically praised Turning Point USA’s Club America and called on Indiana schools and universities to facilitate student organizations “such as Turning Point USA.”
“Let’s be clear about what happened here today.
“This was not an announcement about civic education, and it was certainly not an announcement about keeping politics out of our schools.
“This was the governor of Indiana using the power, platform and credibility of the state to elevate one national political organization above all others.
“That should alarm every Hoosier, regardless of party.
“Students in Indiana already have the freedom to form clubs, speak their minds, register to vote and participate in civic life. The question is not whether students can participate. The question is whether the State of Indiana should be putting its thumb on the scale for one outside ideological agenda.
“This is being sold to Hoosiers as some broad and neutral statement about student organizations. It is not. This event was built around Turning Point USA. The proclamation singled out Turning Point USA for praise. And the governor used the authority of his office to give one national ideological organization something every Hoosier can recognize when they see it: special treatment.
“Braun is trying to sell special treatment as neutrality and political favoritism as free speech.
“No one is questioning students’ free speech rights. Students already have those rights. The contradiction is that the governor is invoking free speech not to protect neutral access for everyone, but to give government-backed validation to one favored political brand.
“Turning Point is not a neutral civics organization. It is a political operation with a defined ideological mission. Its affiliated faith arm says it exists to serve the American Church and advance a religious vision in public life. That is its right as a private organization. What is not right is for the governor of Indiana to use public office to help embed that operation deeper into public schools and public institutions.
“And at some point, Hoosiers have every right to ask: Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?
“Public schools belong to every child and every family. They do not belong to any party. They do not belong to any governor. They do not belong to any political brand. And they do not belong to any outside ideological or religious movement.
“Hoosier families should be asking some very basic questions tonight:
“Will schools be pressured to participate? Will taxpayer-funded staff time be used? Will public resources, public facilities or school communication channels be used to expand this organization’s reach? Can a school say no without consequences? Will every other student group be treated under the exact same neutral rules?
“And why, in a state that talks endlessly about local control and parental choice, is this governor trying to steer public institutions toward one national political organization?
“If this were really about open dialogue, the governor would defend neutral rules for every student group without using the prestige of the state to spotlight one national political organization. Real free speech does not require the governor to play favorites.
“For years, Republicans have warned Hoosiers about politics and ideology in the classroom. They backed measures like SEA 202 in 2024 and promoted the attorney general’s ‘Eyes on Education’ portal in the name of rooting out so-called indoctrination. But now, when the state formally aligns itself with a national ideological organization, we are suddenly supposed to believe that is harmless. Hoosiers can see the double standard.
“And for a party that never stops preaching about small government, they keep finding new ways to insert government into every aspect of people’s lives — including what happens in public schools.
“This is especially troubling because it comes alongside Secretary of State Diego Morales’ new voter registration partnership with Turning Point’s Club America. Indiana’s top election official should be above even the appearance of partisanship in voter outreach. Instead, this administration is blurring the line between neutral public service and ideological alliance.
“And Hoosiers should not miss the hypocrisy. This same state has defended restrictions that make it harder for many students to use student IDs to vote, while now pretending this is about empowering young people. You do not get to make student voting harder with one hand and stage a youth engagement photo op with the other.
“Federal law is also clear that if a public secondary school creates a limited open forum, student groups must be student-initiated and not sponsored by the school, the government or government employees. That matters here. Because once the state starts backing, promoting or facilitating one organization in a special way, Hoosiers have every reason to ask whether the line between student activity and government sponsorship is being dangerously tested.
“Our schools are facing serious challenges right now: literacy, math, teacher shortages, school safety, mental health, college affordability and career readiness. Those are the issues families are worried about, not whether the governor has done enough to help one national activist group expand its footprint in Indiana.
“If you are any Hoosier who believes public resources should serve the public instead of partisan allies, this should concern you.
“Hoosiers deserve schools that educate, not indoctrinate. They deserve neutral public institutions, not political pipelines. And they deserve leaders who understand that public power is a public trust, not a weapon to be wielded for whichever national movement happens to be in favor.
“This announcement crossed a line.”
