Grant Bucher, now living in Steuben County, is waging an ‘unconventional’ race for Congress
By MARK MILLER
Grant Bucher does not think running for Congress has much to do with issues and policies. And certainly nothing to do with public service experience.
He’ll be happy to discuss that with you.
The Wells County native and 2008 Norwell High School graduate is running for the 3rd Congressional District seat being vacated by Jim Banks which includes his native county. He is one of six seeking the Republican nomination in next May’s primary election.
“I am trying to differentiate myself,” he says. “I’m not running on issues or policies. I want you to know who I am and what my character is and then decide whether you want me to be your voice in Congress.”
He would like to see a primary race that “emphasizes the depth of character rather than the width of name recognition.”
Bucher will talk about issues, if you insist. His campaign emphasizes biblical values, anti-abortion policies, 2nd amendment rights, immigration reform and limited government. His website (bucherforus.com) sums it up this way: “It is my firm belief that ‘The Issue’ facing us today is the product of a nation straying from the Truth about God’s greatness and mankind’s brokenness.”
As for experience, “If experience in holding a political office is the metric by which we have good Congresspeople,” he says, “then we should not have the mess in D.C. we have.”
Noting that there is a cumulative total of about 6,100 years of experience in both the House and Senate — and that does not count prior offices held — “it doesn’t seem to be getting the job done.”
He will instead point to his experience as a project manager in the construction business, currently for Weigand Construction, in which he oversees projects involving tens of millions of dollars.
“My job is to represent people,” he explains. “I represent the ownership of Weigand and I represent owners of the building and the people in the field building the project. I am accountable to these people. And I can tell you that I have had millions of dollars come across my desk, and thanks to the principles that have been instilled in me, all of it went exactly where it was supposed to go.”
His career has provided opportunities to work with a wide variety of people with a wide variety of world views, all of which, he believes, has helped prepare him to serve the “750,000 souls” that populate the 13 counties in the 3rd Congressional District.
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After graduating from Norwell High School, Bucher, 33, earned an engineering degree from Purdue University and then an MBA from Indiana University. He and his wife, the former Melinda Ripley from Adams County, have two sons. One was born in California and the other in Michigan during his years as a project manager for Shambaugh & Sons. A desire to return to northeast Indiana spurred his career move to Wiegand Construction. His current work is focused on managing projects in Steuben County and at Hillsdale College, just across the state line from his family’s current home in Snow Lake.
While his intent remained to spend his career in the construction industry, a series of events, discussions and circumstances convinced him that God was calling him to public service on the national level. Jim Banks’ announcement that he would be running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mike Braun came in the midst of that process. He acknowledges that it was a spiritual experience but says he is not running solely on that.
“I don’t aspire to the office, but I aspire to the work,” Bucher says. “I seek the restoration of the U.S. and I feel compelled and equipped to serve at the federal level.”
Bucher has built his campaign on what he refers to as his three principles: “truth, accountability and unity.”
He summarizes the first principle simply as “biblical truth and common sense,” and expands more on the other two.
“We need to hold elected officials accountable, but more so the bureaucrats,” he says. “I don’t think there’s enough conversation about that.”
Bucher feels that Congress has abdicated their responsibilities — “sold out” is the term he uses — to the federal agencies they’ve created. He describes those agencies as a fourth branch of government “accountable to no one. I think the founders would frown on this,” he adds.
He is equally concerned about the growing divisiveness in the country and in Congress.
“It is critical that we do not succumb to tribalism and reject 50 percent of our population (saying) ‘you have no place here,’” he continues. “Do we disagree with them? Absolutely, but let’s draw them more into what is truth.”
He is hesitant to use the word “compromise” in his discussions. “That is intentional,” he says.
“In the construction world, that’s a bad word, it can bring sub-par results.” In solving issues in his work, he explains, he sometimes has to find solutions involving quality, time and costs, “but you cannot, for example, compromise on the integrity of the structure.”
In order to create unity, Bucher continues, he would use Jesus’ model: “He consistently spoke the truth but he sometimes offended his followers in order to attract others to his cause.”
While Bucher does not hesitate to refer to his Christian faith in his presentations and discussions, he has struggled with two aspects of running for a political office.
“I am very awkward with this self-promotion thing,” he says. He does not like to talk about himself. Neither does he enjoy the prospect of raising money.
“What do donors expect? I struggle with that,” he says. “People want to have influence, and some are noble. But citizens — voters — need to be aware of these PACs and the role they play,” he continues, referring to Political Action Committees. He uses the National Rifle Association as an example.
“I am a solid, strong, 2nd amendment advocate,” he says. But he does not plan to accept any contributions from them “because I don’t want people to think I am voting (for 2nd amendment rights) because I took their money.”
Bucher intends to run his campaign in an unconventional manner “so that I am not beholden to anyone,” he concludes. “I would represent the 750,000 souls. That’s what would be important.”
miller@news-banner.com
