Ritz says governor’s campaign just starting to ramp up

Glenda Ritz has had a rocky start in her bid for the Democratic nomination for governor, with the candidate trailing in fundraising out of the gate and her campaign having to respond to questions about the timing of some of her donations.

In addressing those concerns, Ritz said her campaign for governor is still in the “organizational phase.” Her comments came in a sit-down interview this week with The Indianapolis Star.

“We’re seven weeks into it ... because up until June 4, I actually was running for superintendent, so now I’m starting a whole new, brand-new campaign for governor. With that comes all the organizational aspects that you have when you actually begin a campaign,” Ritz said.

Ritz, the state schools chief, announced her candidacy for governor in early June outside an Indianapolis high school and made news the same week by publicly welcoming attendees of the Indy Pride Festival. But since then, she’s remained low-key on her quest to become the state’s top executive.

An early indicator of her campaign’s health found her raising about $30,000 while Democratic challenger John Gregg and Republican Gov. Mike Pence each brought in more than $1.6 million during the same time frame.

Political analysts say Ritz is still attempting to find her footing but Republicans appear more attentive in tracking her progress than in 2012 when she shocked political observers by ousting Republican incumbent Tony Bennett to become superintendent of public instruction despite despite his much greater fundraising results

“If she could roll out endorsements – prominent endorsements – from leading Democrats, if she could share poll numbers that indicate her powerful name recognition across the state, those kind of things would certainly lead people to give her another look,” said Robert Dion, a political science professor at the University of Evansville.

But Ritz said she’s comfortable with the progress of her campaign, noting she had a school year to complete before turning her attention to the governor’s race. Now she’s interviewing campaign staff and creating a fundraising plan.

“I plan to do fundraising that will actually be able to run a quality campaign, because that’s really what it is all about,” Ritz said. “The people in Indiana deserve to have a campaign that’s going to be of high quality, and so I plan to raise enough money to do just that.”

A stumble in her campaign finance filing on July 14 initially showed Ritz raised more than $8,500 during this year’s legislative session. Statewide officeholders are barred from raising campaign donations during odd numbered sessions, when lawmakers write a new, two-year state budget.

She said the listed dates of the donations in question were clerical errors.

“There were errors made,” Ritz said, “and the (campaign treasurer) has amended the report and that’s pretty much it.”

Ritz declined to speculate on who would be her key financial backers for the governor’s race, though she said she thinks her support base has grown. In the run-up to her state superintendent win in 2012, the Indiana State Teachers Association’s political arm was one of Ritz’s heaviest supporters, giving nearly $180,000 to her campaign. Ritz is a former member of the teachers union’s board.

“I really feel that there is a very strong conversation,” she said, “and I think some recent polls actually show that this is true regarding education being one of the No. 1 topics of importance here in the state of Indiana.”

The timing of the May primary for governor, coinciding with the presidential primary, also could help Ritz, given that Hillary Clinton will be on the presidential ballot, Dion said.

Ritz is running, Dion said, at a time when women are “flexing their muscles” more and more.

Yet Gregg, who narrowly lost to Pence for governor in 2012, is — for now — seen as the likeliest winner in the Democratic primary, said Marjorie Hershey, an Indiana University political science professor.

“John Gregg performed very credibly in the last gubernatorial race in terms of the outcome, and for many longtime party people, that basically gives him the right to try it again,” Hershey said.

But will Ritz’s grass-roots campaign style, which generated a groundswell of support from public educators in 2012, be enough to defeat Gregg and state Sen. Karen Tallian, a Northwest Indiana lawmaker who also is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor?

Ritz says yes, coupled with her fundraising goals.

“I plan on actually winning with that kind of strategy,” she said.

Call Star reporter Chelsea Schneider at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @indystarchelsea.