Spencer Deery makes bid for state Senate official

Spencer Deery, a veteran Purdue administrator and presidential aide became the first candidate to officially file for the Republican nomination in Senate District 23. The district, which has been redesigned to include at least parts of Tippecanoe, Fountain, Warren, Montgomery, Parke and Vermillion counties, is slated to elect a new senator this fall to replace retiring Senator Phil Boots.

Deery has worked at Purdue University since 2011, serving currently as Deputy Chief of Staff and as a communications and public policy advisor to former Indiana governor and current Purdue President Mitch Daniels. Counting the interim leadership of Tim Sands, Deery has overlapped with three presidents of the university, but nearly all of his time at Purdue has been with Daniels who has served as president since 2013.

“I am running because I believe no candidate is better prepared to be a disciplined, responsible and bold conservative advocate for Indiana,” Deery said. “For over a decade, I have been a part of the leadership team that has helped make Purdue one of the most innovative schools in the country and a major creator of jobs. If elected, I will take the leadership skills I have developed at Purdue and apply them to state government and fight to give Indiana a more free and more prosperous future.” 

Prior to Purdue, Deery worked as a communications and public policy research aide in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington D.C. Before that, he worked in the private sector in marketing and strategic communications. He has a bachelor’s degree in public relations with minors in both business and political science and a master’s degree from the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University where he graduated at the top of the class.

Deery believes his candidacy will give voters a choice between two approaches.

“There are a lot of politicians claiming to be conservative leaders who think that leadership is just yelling really loud,” Deery said. “That’s not what will build our communities. Like every candidate in this primary, I will defend key conservative values from fiscal issues to social issues to advancing economic growth, especially in our rural communities. The difference is that I will wage those fights with more than a loud voice. I’ll pursue them with experience, strategy, a passion for good governance and effective leadership.”

In preparation for this announcement, Deery has already spent many hours meeting with county and school leaders from all parts of the district, including Attica Consolidated School Corporation Board President, Kelly Hiller.

“Spencer will bring leadership to fixing the problems of today so that we are shaping a better Indiana for future generations to come,” Hiller said. “He will do this with commonsense, fiscally conservative leadership that helps rebuild our rural communities and ensure quality education to our children.”

Former Tippecanoe County GOP Chair Chuck Hockema, who has known Deery for many years, believes that as voters get to know him the way he does, they will like what they see.

“Spencer grew up in a small rural town,” Hockema said. “He is a smart and trustworthy leader who knows there are no easy fixes to the challenges confronting such communities, but you will find no advocate more committed to local control, local schools, and the economic issues facing District 23 than Spencer Deery.”