Baird seeks another term in the Indiana Statehouse

For the last eight years, Beau Baird has served residents in Indiana House District 44.

And, the Republican lawmaker is asking voters for another four years in Indianapolis, facing a challenge from Clint Cooper in next week's Republican May Primary. 

"It is not my seat, it is the people's seat that I have been honored to represent," Baird told The Putnam County Post. 

While people may dred election cycles and all that comes with them, Baird admits he thoroughly enjoys the process and finds himself "energized" by it. 

"I love this time of the year. I am always active in the community, but this is when you make sure you are knocking doors, and going to the little meetings you may not have time for," Baird said.

This past session, Baird admits it was an "odd session" for a variety of reasons. 

"It was an odd session, especially because we had the special session at the end of 2025, which meant we had fewer days for a short session. It was an even shorter session than normal, but I do feel like we got a lot of work done. When I was first elected eight years ago, I thought every bill would be contentious and I thought Republicans hated Democrats and they would fight on every single bill. There were 742 bills filed, and only 162 of those passed. Of the bills that passed, 50 percent of them were unanimous. Republicans and Democrats, in Indiana, despite the two or three issues we disagree on or how we get to the solution, nobody ever talks about the 50 percent of the legislation we agree on. Ninety percent of the 162 bills had some level of bi-partisan support," Baird said. 

Baird said over the last eight years, there has been growth in himself as a Representative, especially when it comes to being a voice for his district.

"I think the biggest thing I have seen is my voice for the community and taking on more leadership roles. When I first got to the Statehouse, I really wanted to be on Ways and Means. I thought it was important to the community, all of my degrees are in finance and it is something I am passionate about. I am also on the regional committee that oversees the money coming out of the One Big Beautiful Bill. There is $50 billion for regional healthcare, which is something I am passionate about and is really important to our community. There is a billion dollars over the next five years, and that committee will focus on the needs of our rural healthcare system," Baird said. 

Baird said the campaign has been "great."

"The amount of support I have seen, I have put out more large and small signs than I have ever put out. Every single one of those signs means so much to me, just to have the support of my community and it is hard to put into words, frankly. Then you think about the responsibility that comes with it and it really is an honor. I use my uncle, who lives in Parke County, as a litmus test. He doesn't pay attention to politics, but he pays attention to dad and myself. Outside of us, he is the average, every day Hoosier and is focused on working, providing food and shelter for his family and he calls us when he has questions. House District 44 is a much better district than when I was first elected eight years ago. I had all of Parke County, three townships in Parke, three townships in Clay, three townships in Owen, three townships in Morgan. I loved all those communities, and I loved representing them, but it was hard when you have a township in Parke County near Racoon Lake that has a very different need than a township out by Monrovia at that time. You had drastic needs across the old district. In the new district, Greencastle and Crawfordsville are similar and the two counties of Putnam and Montgomery are the same," Baird said. 

The veteran lawmaker said healthcare is one of the biggest issues facing his district, and he will continue to work for mobile integrated healthcare across the district. 

"I worked on that two years ago in Montgomery County and the insurance companies really pushed back. Two years ago, we got that done. This summer, I think the Putnam County Health Department will begin integrating it and it helps fill a gap in our community," Baird said. 

In addition, Baird said fallout from Senate Bill 1 will impact local governments.

"Senate Bill 1 has a lot of misnomers about it. I think you will see a budget tightening at the local level, but one part left out of the discussion is those are taxpayer dollars. These are taxpayer dollars we are talking about. If you see a tightening at the local level, that means taxpayer dollars are staying in the taxpayer's pockets, and, to me, I don't see that to be a problem. We left a tool in there to allow local governments to use the local income tax. There is a lot of talk about the money lost and that was new money. Almost all budgets across the state stay the same or slightly grow, but there is no loss of money. What they are losing is the future growth and the problem that we had was with assessed values growing so quickly, we had automatic budget increases built in. The problem I saw with that was nobody had to justify the budget growth, budgets were just growing with no justification. I think we can come back and fix this in a few years and make it better after we see how it plays out. We stopped automatic growth, which means we stopped taking dollars out of our constituents' pockets and it means we have to justify any new money we want through the local income tax, and I think that is a good process. If you need more money and it's justified, make your case to your constituents, and, if they agree with it, they'll support it. I think our budgets should be based on constituent input and not just automatic growth," Baird said. 

As he makes his way around both Putnam and Montgomery counties, Baird said he is hearing a lot from voters about costs.

"Whether that be healthcare costs or fuel costs or grocery costs, that is something I am hearing all over the place. I was in Waveland in and ran into a gentleman with a high needs daughter who is on Medicaid. The story was heartbreaking. As we have those conversations, I get so energized. I must have spent an hour at that door understanding the needs of that family," Baird said. 

And, as for why voters should vote for him, Baird turns to his record and the job he has done for eight years.

"I think and hope what they have seen from me is a compassionate listener and someone who has become a stronger voice for them than I was eight years ago in the Statehouse. I will fight every single day, and I have been doing that, and I hope they see that and understand that. It would be an honor to continue to do that," Baird said.