A large road project made possible by legislation Gov. Mike Braun carried during his Statehouse days is now becoming a political problem for him in his home county.
The same citizen organizers who in December polled Dubois County residents on both Braun and the Mid-States Corridor project, a proposed 50-mile highway connecting Interstates 64 and 69 through southern Indiana, have now expanded their polling statewide, finding a 25% approval rating for the governor overall and 43% among Republicans. Public Policy Polling surveyed 554 Indiana voters on Feb. 20 and 21, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2%.
These results are significantly different from the Dubois County poll, home to Jasper, where Braun still lives: Only 16% of the 636 Dubois County voters surveyed, and 23% of Republican respondents, approved of his job performance. In the same poll, President Donald Trump performed at a 54% approval rating overall and 78% among Republicans.
Why the gulf between Braun’s statewide and Dubois County performances?
“I think it’s because of the road,” said Brad Hochgesang, a Jasper resident who, among many others, contributed money to pay for Public Policy Polling to conduct the surveys.
Braun did not respond to a request for comment.
Braun is well known in his hometown. He went to Jasper High School; he ran Meyer Distributing, an international business headquartered in Jasper, for a long time. He served on the local school board.
The idea to build an expressway along the U.S. 231 corridor has been studied off and on since the 1990s, predating Braun’s entry into the Statehouse as a state representative in 2015. Today, the project is in the thick of environmental studies, but the state could begin purchasing right-of-way as soon as this year if the exact route is finalized.
There’s an impression among Jasper residents that building such a road was the reason Braun got into politics, said Jason McCoy, a lifelong conservative and chair of the Property Rights Alliance, which also helped commission the polling.
“If you’re from Jasper and you know Mike Braun, he’s all about the long game,” he said.
Braun has previously acknowledged that infrastructure was a motivator for him to get involved in state government. The roads get “scenic” down in southern Indiana, which is isolated in terms of road infrastructure, he told IndyStar in 2024 during his campaign for governor.
In 2017, he was the lead House sponsor on a bill authorizing a Regional Development Authority — a public entity spanning multiple cities or counties whose appointed board helps plan and fund economic development projects, such as the Mid-States Corridor. He also coauthored the gas tax increase of 2017 that Republicans supported because it meant shoring up critical infrastructure funding.
But the project itself has proved unpopular many among residents in the region the highway runs through. They don’t see the stated goals ― “improved business and personal regional connectivity in Dubois County and Southern Indiana” and saving a few minutes of travel time from Jasper to Indianapolis, according to the project website ― as mattering much compared to the tradeoffs they see: the taking of home and farmland, new traffic patterns locally that could require local tax dollars, making it difficult to drive their boats to Patoka Lake.
Bigger picture, Hochgesang said, they’re skeptical the more than $1 billion ticket price is worth it, and couldn’t be spent on other road or local needs, like affordable housing.
The road project “felt like the big betrayal around here,” he said.
“We see it locally as not going to benefit the average citizen,” he said. “A lot of people have come to the conclusion that this is moneyed interests looking to make more money.”
He and his fellow organizers with the Property Rights Alliance and the Stop the Mid-States Corridor coalition decided they wanted to prove the unpopularity. Hochgesang expected disapproval of the project to at least surpass 50% among Dubois County voters in the Public Policy Polling survey; he was shocked to find the result that 81% opposed the project. Statewide, that percentage is 65%, with another 24% unsure.
The issue has motivated Hochgesang, a 46-year-old software developer, to run for his state Senate district as a Democrat, hoping to challenge Republican Sen. Daryl Schmitt.
There are signs state lawmakers may have more say in the future over projects like the Mid-States Corridor ― just this week, lawmakers amended language into the Chicago Bears stadium bill subjecting INDOT projects worth more than $250 million to state budget committee review.
“I would like to have a seat at the table for that discussion,” Hochgesang said.
Contact IndyStar Statehouse reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on X@kayla_dwyer17.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: ‘Big betrayal’: Road project in Gov. Mike Braun’s hometown proves politically costly
Reporting by Kayla Dwyer, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
