Born in Evansville, Indiana, Messer is a graduate of Wabash College and Vanderbilt University Law School. After an unsuccessful run for the U.S. House in 2000, Messer served as the first executive director of the Indiana Republican Party from 2001 to 2005. Messer was appointed to serve in the Indiana House of Representatives in 2003, after State Representative W. Roland Stine was killed in a car accident. He represented Indiana's 57th District from 2003 to 2006, when he opted not to run for reelection and instead joined Ice Miller LLP's lobbying division. From 2006 to 2012, Messer was a registered lobbyist. He ran for the U.S. House again in 2010, but was unsuccessful in his primary challenge to Republican Dan Burton. When Mike Pence decided in 2012 to run for Governor of Indiana, Messer was elected to replace him, defeating Democratic nominee Brad Bookout.
On July 26, 2017, Messer announced that he would run for the U.S. Senate in 2018.[2] He was unsuccessful in the May 8 primary election, losing to Mike Braun.
On May 23, 2003, Messer was selected to succeed W. Roland Stine, who died in a traffic collision, in the Indiana House of Representatives for the 57th district.[15] From 2003 to 2006, Messer represented District 57 in the Indiana House of Representatives, which contained parts of Shelby County and Bartholomew County.[16] During the 2005-06 legislative session, Messer was Assistant Majority Floor Leader.[17] His legislation aimed at curbing high school dropout rates received national attention after Shelbyville High School became a symbol of a national dropout crisis.[18] He did not run for reelection as State Representative in 2006, and was succeeded by Sean Eberhart.[19]
Lobbying work
Messer was a registered lobbyist from 2006 to 2012.[20][21]
In 2006, Messer joined Ice Miller LLP's lobbying division as a partner of their public affairs group.[22][23][24] His decision to join Ice Miller came a month after voting in favor of Indiana leasing the Indiana Toll Road to Cintra-Macquarie, an international consortium, for "75 years at a cost of $3.85 billion." Ice Miller, Indiana's largest law firm, represented Cintra-Macquarie in the deal.[25] Messer said he "did not know they represented anyone in connection with the Toll Road."[24]
Since being elected to Congress in 2012, Ice Miller LLP has been Messer's top source of campaign contributions, having given him $82,238.[29]
United States House of Representatives
Elections
In May 2011, Mike Pence announced his intention to run for Governor of Indiana. Messer subsequently declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the district, which had been renumbered as the 6th District after the 2000 census. His home in Shelbyville had been drawn back into the district after the 2010 census after being drawn into the neighboring 5th after the 2000 census.[30] On May 8, 2012, Messer defeated a crowded field of Republican candidates seeking the party's nomination, including Columbus real estate investor Travis Hankins, winning with 71% of the vote.[31] He faced Democrat Brad Bookout, a Delaware County councilman, in the general election.[32][33] On November 6, 2012, Messer defeated Bookout with roughly 59% of the vote.[34] After the election, Messer moved to the Washington metropolitan area.[35]
In 2017, Messer founded the Congressional School Choice caucus to promote the expansion of school voucher programs.[39]
In May 2018, Messer led a group of 18 House Republicans unofficially nominating President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize "for his efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and end the 68-year-old war between North and South Korea".[40]
Political views and legislation
Messer, like Pence, is an ardent conservative. During his initial run for Congress, Messer told NPR member WFIU, "If you like Congressman Mike Pence, we’re going to have very similar philosophy in the way we approach the job."[41]
Social issues
Messer opposes abortion rights. He has a 100% rating from Indiana Right to Life for his abortion-related voting record. He opposes the federal government funding organizations that offer abortions, unless the abortions are the result of rape or incest or the woman's life is threatened.[42]
On January 4, 2013, Messer voted for the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which prohibits distribution of federal family planning funds to organizations that offer abortions unless the abortion is the result of pregnancy from incest or rape or the woman's life is at risk.[42]
On May 9, 2013, Messer voted for the Full Faith and Credit Act, which prioritized spending if the debt limit is reached.[44] Messer voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and has stated his support for reforming the tax code to simplify it and reduce tax rates.[45] In 2013, he signed a pledge sponsored by conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any global warming legislation that would raise taxes.[citation needed]
Messer supports a balanced budget amendment. He opposes federal stimulus spending and supports limiting federal spending growth to per-capita inflation rate.[44]
Education
In August 2013, Messer worked to pass bipartisan legislation to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling in 2013 and to link student loan interest rates to market rates.[46]
In July 2017, Messer authored legislation to "upend the way American students pay for college."[47] His legislation lays the framework for income share agreements, which have several advantages over traditional student loans.[47] Messer has introduced legislation to require annual debt letters to be sent to student loan borrowers, which is based on an Indiana University program that reduced borrowing at the institution by 10 percent.[48] Messer worked with Sen. Patty Murray to restore Pell Grant eligibility to students who were attending ITT Tech when the institution closed, by convincing the Education Department to restore these benefits using an existing statute.[49]
Messer supports the expansion of school voucher programs.[39]
Health care
Messer is in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") and replacing it with "something better".[50]
In July 2017, Messer authored legislation that would prevent undocumented immigrants from claiming the child tax credit.[51][52] President Donald Trump included the same proposal in his 2018 budget request to Congress.[53]
Messer commented on the work of a 2013 bipartisan House working group on immigration reform, saying that a pathway to citizenship and a deal on metrics to measure border security would be the biggest challenges to final passage of immigration reform.[54][55] Messer told Indiana's Biz Voice Magazine, "Those who came here unlawfully will have to pay penalties and back fees."[56][57][54]
Messer supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, describing it as a measure to "protect Americans from terrorist threats" and saying that "President Trump is right to prioritize American safety."[58]
Veterans
Messer supported a GI Bill reform package passed by the House on June 25, 2017[59] and signed into law by President Trump,[60] which included a provision he authored that would retroactively restore education benefits to veterans attending schools that close mid-semester, like ITT Technical Institute.[61][62]
Messer has a "D" rating from NORML for his voting history regarding cannabis-related causes. Messer opposes veterans having access to medical marijuana if recommended by their Veterans Health Administration doctor and if it is legal for medicinal purposes in their state of residence.[64]
Gun rights
In 2012 and 2016, the NRA Political Victory Fund gave Messer an "A" rating for his gun-related voting record. Messer opposes restrictions on gun purchases.[65][66]
Electoral history
2000
Indiana's 2nd Congressional District Republican primary election (2000)
Following Messer's election to Congress, he sold his house in Shelbyville, Indiana and moved to McLean, Virginia, a Washington, D.C. suburb.[35] He is now listed as a registered voter at his mother's address in Greensburg, Indiana.[70] Messer has clarified that he owns the home with his mother and lives there when he is in the state.[71] He faced criticism from his opponents in the 2018 Republican primary election for the United States Senate for moving his family to the Washington, D.C. area.[72][73][74]
Fishers, an Indianapolis suburb, has paid Jennifer Messer $580,000 since 2015 in legal consulting she primarily does from the family's Washington, D.C. area home.[75] She is paid $20,000 a month as a part-time contract attorney for the city.[76] Jennifer Messer began the work for the City of Fishers two years before her husband was elected to Congress.[75] Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness said the arrangement helped usher in an era of "unprecedented" economic success in the growing suburb of about 85,000 people.[75] Messer has defended his wife's work, calling her "the brains of the Messer outfit", and Jennifer defended her work in an op-ed for The Indianapolis Star, calling an Associated Press story about her "unfair, intellectually dishonest and straight-up sexist".[77][78]
^"Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
