The race to represent West Lafayette in the Indiana House of Representatives began to heat up last week after the incumbent tweeted a personal attack at her opponent. But the challenger in the race insists she’s not worrying about it.
After the announcement that Democrat Chris Campbell was running for the Indiana House seat, Republican incumbent Sally Siegrist questioned Campbell’s involvement in the community on Twitter. The tweet has since been deleted.
Then, Siegrist began to block local reporters on the social media site and changed her access to private – meaning she chooses who’s allowed to see her tweets.
Campbell says the offending tweet isn’t really on her radar.
“And I don’t feel like it should be,” Campbell says. “My relationship with the voters has to be with the voters.”
Still, Campbell says she’ll run her campaign differently.
“The voters’ opinions and their concerns are what is important. And I can’t make the right decisions for my voters unless I can hear what it is that does concern them,” Campbell says. “So I have no plans to block anybody.”
Campbell was born in LaPorte and has lived in Greater Lafayette for more than two decades. She’s served on the West Lafayette Library Board, the West Lafayette Redevelopment Commission and as her neighborhood’s communication coordinator.
That Twitter dust-up came only a couple weeks after Siegrist liked a tweet supporting racist comments made by comedian Roseanne Barr, before asserting she’d accidentally endorsed the social media post.
Campbell has so far used her Twitter account – created just before she was announced as a candidate – to speak on topics related to her campaign platform, including mental health and public school funding.
“One of the very important things I want to be is accessible,” she says. “I want there to be transparency in the things that I do.”
Campbell – a local audiologist -- adds she’s not worried about Siegrist’s tweeting.
“You know, hearing is important to me,” Campbell says. “And I plan to listen to my voters and to the people around us.”