Carmel’s Thornton starts congressional campaign

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Carmel resident Dee Thornton on Monday kicked off her campaign for Congress.

The Democrat is running in House District 5, a position currently held by Republican U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks. She announced in June that she would not run for reelection in 2020.

Thornton unsuccessfully ran against Brooks in 2018.

During the kickoff event at The Willows on the north side of Indianapolis, Thornton said she wanted to focus on health care, tariffs and gun violence.

“You used to, I think, could point to one or two issues and say, ‘Oh, I think this is what we need to focus on.’ But, we’re at a time in our government and in our country that there are a lot of issues that we need to focus on and I’m a firm believer that we can accomplish more than one thing at a time.”

Last week, former Democratic state representative Christina Hale announced her bid for the seat. 

The 5th Congressional District extends from north Indianapolis to Marion.