April 21: Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita headlines Whitley County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner - Fort Wayne Business Weekly

COLUMBIA CITY — The Whitley County Republican Party held its annual Lincoln Day Dinner on April 15 at Eagle Glen Event Center in Columbia City. Chairman Nicki Venable opened the evening, followed by an invocation from Gina Vanderford. Gary Bird led the Pledge of Allegiance, Mandy Blanton performed the national anthem, and Sen. Justin Busch, R-Fort Wayne, served as emcee. The meal was catered by Blessed by God BBQ. State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla highlighted Indiana’s fiscal progress. “From 6 cents to common sense. When we closed the books back in 2002, we had 6 cents on hand,” Nieshalla said. “That was under Democratic leadership.” Nieshalla then said that after 20 years, “we turned that 6 cents into $676 million, and it’s the tangible evidence that we legitimately have a balanced budget and the fourth lowest debt per capita state in the nation. And that’s why we can say it’s so good to be a Hoosier.” Indiana Republican Chairwoman Lana Keesling presented the State Chairman’s Award to Lucas Balcerzak, praising his ability to connect people and foster dialogue. She also urged party unity ahead of the primary. “We have a lot of momentum in Indiana and in the federal government,” Keesling said. “Indiana is one of only 16 states in the country with economic development and growth, and we want to continue that momentum that we have. And we’re having spirited debate, we all know that there are spirited debates going on with the party for primary day, and it’s because we’re passionate. We love our country, we’re passionate about our beliefs. But you know what, at the end of the day, on May 6, you know who we are? We’re Republicans.” Jon Myers presented the Dr. Neil Hanni Memorial Award for Republican of the Year to Denice Spencer, recognizing her service, party involvement, and dedication to her family. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita delivered the keynote address, touching on issues including education, health care and immigration. He also emphasized the importance of civic responsibility. More from this section +5 Daniel Craig’s Tom Ford suit could fetch $53,000 at James Bond auction +3 Seasonal workers need this much to make ends meet this holiday season Large tax burden on Seattle businesses continues to grow, analysis shows “I will keep fighting on all the things,” Rokita said. “I will keep fighting on transanity that’s going on, the CRT, the ESG, the EI — all the acronyms. I will continue to fight illegal aliens because they don’t belong here, and it’s unfair to US citizens who pay a lot of taxes, including property taxes. I will keep fighting against Big Health Care because it doesn’t work, and from a consumer standpoint, we’re getting ripped off. I will keep protecting consumers. I will keep going into schools — 100 more — like today at Columbia City High School, and we will talk about American Exceptionalism.” Rokita told the audience that the responsibility to make changes in our state and in our country should not fall only upon the shoulders of politicians, but rather, should be the responsibility of every citizen. “Free societies are hard and that is why they’re rare,” Rokita said, “and that’s the challenge that we have is to preserve this for our posterity. It’s the most important thing we can do is to preserve this country. It’s that American Exceptionalism is very rare. It was a very radical idea, this idea that we were not going to be subject to the government, but that the government was going to be subject to us.” Rokita encouraged unity within the party and warned of future political challenges, including the potential candidacy of Beau Bayh in the Secretary of State race. “We have to beat Beau Bayh,” he said. “We all gotta focus on that. Because everything I talked about hating in this country, Beau Bayh will bring to this state if we let him in that Statehouse.” Following the program, auctioneer Jim Bayman led the event’s pie auction. A banana cream pie made by Sen. Busch’s mother sold for $3,000, just shy of last year’s record. Venable closed the evening by encouraging community involvement and civility. “Get involved. If you get involved, the load gets a little lighter for the individuals who are doing it every single day. We need everyone’s help,” Venable said. “And also, during the primary election, let’s be kind to one another. We’re in a community together. Kids go to school together, we go to church together, we go to the grocery store together. Let’s be kind to one another.” Tags Politics Politics Of The United States Government United States Related articles Oct. 6: DeKalb County victim of cyber financial fraud Oct. 6: Amelia Earhart expedition update: Crew arrives at Tarawa, prepares for departure Oct. 6: Finalists announced for BBB Torch Awards for Ethics Oct. 6: Indiana tallies $13M boost off ‘blackout’ license plate sales, invests in BMV modernization Oct. 6: Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch donates nearly 3,000 pounds of food items to organizations Oct. 6: U.S. Postal Service will be closed in observance of Columbus Day, Oct. 12 Oct. 6: Congregation Achduth Vesholom holding corned beef on rye fundraiser Allen County Board of Commissioners - legislative session canceled Oct. 6: Purdue Fort Wayne opens renovated Doermer School of Business building Oct. 5: Vorderman Volkswagen celebrates remodeled dealership Recommended for you × Post a comment as anonymous Emoticons [smile] [beam] [wink] [sad] [cool] [innocent] [rolleyes] [whistling] [lol] [huh] [tongue] [love] [sleeping] [yawn] [unsure] [angry] [blink] [crying] [ohmy] [scared] [sleep] [sneaky] [tongue_smile] [thumbdown] [thumbup] [censored] [happybirthday] [ban] [spam] [offtopic] [batman] [ninja] [pirate] [alien] Comment Text Cancel Post comment × Report Cancel Report Abuse × Watch this discussion. 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