Derek Redelman Responds Regarding His Role in the Senate District 30 Vacancy Caucus

Below is an email (reprinted with permission) from Derek Redelman who wanted to clarify his role with respect to what transpired before and during the Senate District 30 Caucus. Although I didn't mention Redelman directly on my blog, I did make a flip comment on Advance Indiana that I lost all respect for him when it was mentioned that Redelman had supported the insider candidate Ryan Vaughn. I was disappointed to hear that he may have cut a deal with Republican insiders to try to get ahead politically. I had always admired Redelman as a fighter for education reform, an issue near and dear to my heart. Redelman writes though to inform me I had the facts wrong:

Your post-mortem on the District 30 Caucus was just brought to my attention.

It should be corrected that I was NOT working for Ryan Vaughn, nor any of the candidates for that matter. Indeed, you could probably confirm that by talking with any of them – including Scott and John. In my meetings with each of the four candidates, I did make clear that I had been asked to consider the council seat if Ryan got appointed. I also told each of them that I had interest and was considering
it. I just felt it was important for them to know that directly from me, rather than hearing it as a rumor. I also told each of them that my potential interest would have absolutely no impact on my vote at the Caucus – and it did not. In fact, in the end, I made calls to party leadership and sent out an e-mail the day before the caucus letting everyone know that I had decided, regardless of the Caucus outcome, that I would not seek the Council seat.

So, at this point, I could claim to have been on any side of this battle. Certainly I did nothing publicly to support any of the candidates; nor did I assure any of the candidates privately that they would get my support. On the day of the caucus, I would not be surprised if three of the four candidates were counting me in their column – which is perfectly okay with me since I consider each of them friends (another reason that I did not endorse or work for any of them). In the end though, I will say that I am very happy with the outcome and am very confident that Scott will make a terrific state senator.

Thank you, Derek, for writing and giving me your feedback as well as your willingness to allow me to publish your email.