As a resident of Indiana for less than a year, Trey Hollingsworth will now represent the Hoosier state in Washington.
Hollingsworth won the District 9 congressional seat with 52.6 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat Shelli Yoder.
“This is our home, and we do have work ahead of us,” Yoder said. “This night is an opportunity for us to give hugs, pull together.”
Joseph Albert “Trey” Hollingsworth III is a University of Pennsylvania graduate, a businessman and a multimillionaire from Tennessee. He employs more than 100 Hoosiers in an aluminum remanufacturing operation, and he officially moved to Indiana when he bought an apartment in Jeffersonville, Indiana, in 2015. Hollingsworth’s campaign was funded by a $500,000 contribution from his father, Joe Hollingsworth Jr., and $1.5 million of his own money.
Hollingsworth is a self-described “outsider, businessman and Christian conservative.” His outsider status makes him the best candidate for the position because he knows how to get the economy moving again, he said in an address to the IU College Republicans in September.
“In my opinion, you shouldn’t ask for the right to spend our tax dollars until you have had to honestly earn them from outside government,” according to Hollingsworth’s website.
Hollingsworth believes in term limits because public service “should not be a career path.” On his website, Hollingsworth promises to serve no more than eight years as Indiana’s District 9 representative.
Hollingsworth is also an advocate for limited government because regulation is “bloating” the economy.
He said in the address to the IU College Republicans the current tax code is keeping small businesses from growing and over-regulation is driving companies overseas.
“We’ve got to go back to a regulatory environment that enables businesses to grow,” he said in an address to the Bloomington Rotary Club in October.
Though he has built many factories, he said on his website he takes the most pride in his relationship with his wife, Kelly, a fashion buyer.
“As we look forward to our family growing, I think about how precious our future is and how conservative, Christian values need to guide us,” Hollingsworth said on his website.
Above all else, Hollingsworth said he believes in America.
“I believe this is a great country,” Hollingsworth said in the address to the IU College Republicans. “I want to mobilize the great talent we have here in America.”
As the election was officially called, Yoder’s eyes began to fill with tears, yet she never lost her smile.
Lou Gerig, former press secretary to Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, and assistant to president Ronald Reagan said every race in the state was a surprise.
“Not that they won, but by the margin they won,” Gerig said. “Everyone said the margins would be closer, including Trey’s.”
Gerig said he has spoken to Hollingsworth a couple of times and was very impressed.
“He was voted in by Hoosiers who have good Hoosier values, and he’ll follow them,” Gerig said.
