Courtney Tritch has held some interesting and impactful jobs in her career path to running for Indiana’s Third District representative. Whether it was her first post-college (IU, Phi Beta Kappa graduate) gig as a weinermobile driver, her work for the Downtown Improvement District, her job as a vice president at the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership or her current position as owner of Courtney Tritch Consulting, Tritch says she is well-prepared to make needed changes in Congress.

 

Tritch said the recent years of economic successes in Fort Wayne and the region, such as Parkview Field and the Regional Cities initiatives, were due to people who were “willing to work together. That is not happening at the federal level.

 

“It’s not about partisanship,” Tritch said, “it’s about making the right decisions for people (in our district). We need some integrity in our politicians.”

 

For example, Tritch said she watched the recent health care debate and felt that “rather than working across the aisle, they just wanted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), when 20 million people will lose their health insurance. I want to make affordable, accessible health care a priority. I’m advocating for the Medicare option, where anyone can buy into Medicare insurance as an option. … I want to be practical, I want to do what works for people.”

 

Tritch brings a personal passion to her candidacy: Her sister died from pancreatic cancer at age 39; when Tritch approached her own 39^th birthday, she contemplated “what it meant to be here, when she (Tritch’s sister) was not.” With her mother as a sounding board, Tritch spent many hours talking about her role in life and was stunned to lose her mother suddenly in 2016. Her father, Dr. Daniel Tritch, had died in 2006. “They taught me to stand up for people who don’t have a voice,” Tritch says of her decision to run for Congress. To that end, Tritch said she has held multiple town hall meetings, which were broadcast via Facebook Live, and said she seeks out “experts” on a wide variety of issues to learn more herself as well as inviting those experts to talk with the public.

 

Tritch stated she is proud that her campaign is focused on positive messages and not on personal attacks of her opponent, incumbent Rep. Jim Banks. Tritch said Banks has constantly made inflammatory and incorrect statements about her personal life and political positions.

 

Tritch’s top platform issues are health care, education, clean energy and jobs & the economy. She also is concerned about veterans, the 40 percent in our community who live in poverty and the country’s increasing debt.

 

Tritch is working to set up live debates with her opponent, saying that a tentative date is Oct. 28, with a confirmed date of Nov. 2, 7 p.m., on WANE TV. She recently wrote editorials that offer her view on health care – at https://www.tritchforcongress.com/healthycooperation – and also on immigration and the economy – at https://www.tritchforcongress.com/sensibleimmigration

 

More about Tritch can be found at https://www.tritchforcongress.com/

 

“I’m asking you to think about what kind of country you want to live in,” Tritch told club members. “Are you willing to vote, get your friends to vote, volunteer, what are you willing to do? We can’t continue on this divided path.”

 

Tritch’s presentation to the club was reported by the Journal Gazette: http://journalgazette.net/news/local/local-politics/20181008/tritch-slams-partisan-politics-at-rotary-appearance

 

You will be delighted by the lunch menu today – we are taste-testing the food for our upcoming Big Easy fundraiser. Yum!

 

In what may be a first for the club, Rotarians welcomed new member Dan Gabbard, a fourth-generation Rotarian. Dan’s grandfather is Bill Gabbard. Dan is a licensed real estate broker with Zacher Company. He is a recent IU graduate, who is excited to become a member. Welcome, Dan!

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will soon receive an email asking for volunteers for the Oct. 30 World Affairs Conference. New this year is an essay contest, where the top three writers will received scholarship funds. Volunteers for this and other fulfilling tasks are needed. Contact John Hoffman at johnahoffman@gmail.com to assist.