Running for office while still in college is stressful. That’s what Drew Ash, the 22-year-old IU senior running for the Indiana House of Representatives, has learned through his campaign for District 61.
“It’s like the triangle — school, work and social life,” Ash said. “But you can only pick two.”
The two he chooses depends on the weekend. There are some nights he wants to focus on the campaign but has to study. There are Friday nights when he wants to go out with his friends and fraternity brothers in Phi Delta Theta, but he’s had to stay in, work on the campaign and prepare for debates.
It’s not the usual way a senior spends his final fall in college, but it’s one Ash has been planning long before he came to Bloomington.
He always knew he wanted to be involved in politics. As a third grader, he would get into debates in the cafeteria with teachers and lunch ladies about the war in Iraq.
“I was telling them we should go into Afghanistan, but not Iraq,” Ash said. “They were very nuanced arguments.”
He decided in middle school he would run for political office one day. Now, as an IU senior studying environmental management and policy analysis, he is making good on that decision.
Though Ash’s family currently lives in Connecticut, he grew up in the Midwest and his Indiana roots “run deep.” Both of Ash’s parents attended IU, and some of his family still lives in the state. This is what motivated him to run for office in Indiana, he said.
“Ultimately, I love the Hoosier hospitality,” Ash said.
Unlike on the East Coast, he said everywhere he goes in Indiana he is received warmly.
Ash lives in a one-bedroom apartment by College Mall. The living room and kitchen are decorated with a Corona neon light and sports memorabilia from the Columbus Blue Jackets and European soccer clubs.
A Phi Delta Theta fraternity flag hangs over the couch. The living room television always has the news on, Ash said. A Herald-Times article featuring Ash is framed in the bathroom. The refrigerator has a poster with pictures of every member of the Indiana House of Representatives and a detailed dry erase board calendar.
Ash is running as an Independent for the seat because he said he believes the two-party system has failed the country. Democrats and Republicans try to differentiate themselves on social issues, such as gay marriage and transgender rights, but Ash said it is a false dichotomy. There is no money in social issues, but when it comes to economics, the parties have more in common than most people think, he said.
“Both parties are two heads on the same coin,” Ash said.
He said he believes the Democratic Party lacks progressiveness. On the federal level, Hillary Clinton is for fracking and “disastrous” free trade agreements that are not moving the country forward. On the state level, gubernatorial candidate John Gregg is a big supporter of the coal industry, he said.
Ash said politics follows money, so though he previously identified as a liberal, he now has reservations when it comes to the Democratic Party.
“Drew’s views align mostly with that of what Bernie Sanders was saying during the Democratic primaries and what (Green Party candidate) Jill Stein is stating now,” Daniel Olsson, an intern with Ash’s campaign, said.
Though Ash has previously worked on political campaigns, including the Sanders campaign, he has never held an elected position before. He admits his opponent Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, has more experience from serving as the representative for District 61 since 2002, when Ash was in elementary school. Nevertheless, trust in government is at an all-time low, he said, so experience in elected officials isn’t as valuable.
“Some think experience in office is an asset,” Ash said. “I think it’s a vulnerability.”
There are characteristics that voters look for in a candidate besides experience that Ash said he possesses, such as vision and depth.
“I’m new to this, but I think there are attributes that are just as important, if not more important, than experience,” he said.
Unlike other candidates who want small, gradual change that accomplishes little, Ash said his vision in particular is what sets him apart because he is going in for change full-throttle.
Ash is a night owl. He frequently stays up until 4 a.m. watching sports and the news, studying for classes and researching for the campaign. He spends hours on YouTube watching old political speeches, particularly John F. Kennedy’s and Bill Clinton’s. His favorite speech is Mario Cuomo’s 1984 keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Ash said he isn’t a morning person, and even getting up for a 3 p.m. class can be a struggle.
He drives to class every day and parks on campus, so he has gotten his fair share of parking tickets. Ash said he currently has four unpaid parking tickets, and he does not plan to pay them.
“They don’t make you pay them,” Ash said.
If elected, Ash said he will advocate for progressive ideas — such as marijuana legalization — that will not get passed but will bring the issue to attention in the state.
Ash said he is most passionate about is campaign finance reform. The method in which campaigns are financed has corrupted the two-party system, Ash said. He is primarily self-funding the campaign and has pledged to take no donations greater than $750, with absolutely no donations from out-of-state.
Ash is also interested in the economy, education and the environment, he said. He wants to ensure state funds are not misused, as they were with I-69, he said. He would also like to see education reform and removal of ISTEP, and the concept of “teaching to the test.”
When it comes to the presidential election, Ash said he will vote for Jill Stein.
He described his campaign as being “grassroots” because he does most of the work, including going door-to-door, phone-banking and color-coding an Excel spreadsheet, which denotes likely voters and unlikely voters so he knows where to concentrate his campaigning efforts.
He said Wednesday he planned to get a map of District 61 so he could pin-point the location of all his potential voters and tell them where their poll site is.
“It’s been a lot of kissing babies and shaking hands,” Ash said.
He added many people are blatantly disinterested in what he has to say.
“It’s humbling when someone slams the door in your face,” Ash said.
Meghan Blasig, Ash’s campaign manager, has known him since high school. She said people judge him because he’s young and still in college, but she believes his intentions are genuine.
“He’s not a career politician,” she said. “He just wants to get involved and make things better for Indiana.”
Ash said he believes the community will recognize this and vote for him.
“I hope my passion is contagious,” Ash said.
