Waterman hopes to replace State Senator Ford

Posted: Oct 6, 2023 / 01:38 PM EDT

Updated: Oct 6, 2023 / 06:55 PM EDT

BRAZIL, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Another Hoosier official has announced he’s running for the state senate seat out of Indiana’s 38th district.

The seat is being vacated by current state senator Jon Ford.

Greg Goode threw his hat in the ring early on, but former state senator John Waterman just announced this week that he would also seek the seat in the Indiana statehouse.

“I won the Sheriff’s race in 1987,” Waterman tells mywabashvalley.com. “I was a two-term Sheriff in Sullivan County. I had 20 years in the Indiana Senate, and I’ve had about five years, six years in the County Commissioner’s seat.”

With all that experience, Waterman believes he is the best person to take over the state senate seat. “[When] Senator Ford announced [he would leave his position] on T.V., my phone blew up. I didn’t even know he was going to quit and, for three days. I just had a call in the parking lot out here from Odon, Indiana; everybody sending prayers and things.”

Waterman was born and raised in Vigo County, so he says he is very familiar with the area. Waterman’s first state senate seat encompassed half of Terre Haute.

WATERMAN: Constitution is “under attack”

When asked why Waterman wanted to run, he said, “The First and Second Amendments are under attack. We have a lot of the issues that we’ve got to keep out of Indiana. It’s not just about getting bills past. About 1,200 bills a year filed and, maybe 300 will make it, so you have to spend a lot of time killing bad bills.”

Waterman says establishment politicians are taking over and he hopes to stop that trend.

“I got six kids and eight grandkids and, the way this world is now, we’ve got to get in and start fighting more. The establishment politicians are taking over and it’s just got to stop.”

“Without the Second Amendment you won’t have the First Amendment,” Waterman added. “So, we need to keep our state strong and the personal rights that we have. Work within the constitution and strengthen it.”

Waterman on state spending, increasing crime

Waterman also hopes to reform state spending.

“There’s a lot of monies that are available in grants and that type of thing that goes by the wayside. Back when I was in the Senate, we’d maximize on a lot of monies that we put out into the district. It really helped out a lot and we’re going to have to reestablish that again.”

As a former Sullivan County Sheriff, Waterman says crime is getting out of control.

“Their taking authority out of schools, out of law enforcement. It’s just escalating. It’s got to stop. People can’t ensure. There are so many thefts in this area here, we are having a lot of thefts still. And, in the rural areas, it’s getting bad where you have to have police officers in schools now. It’s just getting way over the top.”