State Rep. Ed Clere says he’s not quite done with the Republican Party — but he is done putting its label next to his name on a ballot.
Clere, a longtime GOP lawmaker from southern Indiana, confirmed he will not seek re-election to the Indiana House and instead plans to run for mayor as an independent next year. In a conversation, he drew a sharp line between Republican voters he respects and a party apparatus he believes has lost its way.
“It’s important to distinguish between people who still identify as Republican and the Republican Party,” Clere said. “Those are two very different things. I know and respect, and in many cases count as friends or colleagues, countless Republicans, including many of my constituents. This isn’t about them. This is about the party and where it has gone.”
Clere said he reached a point where he could no longer, in good conscience, seek another term as a Republican candidate.
“I just reached a point at which I could no longer put my name on the ballot as a Republican candidate,” he said. “So I decided not to run for re-election, and I announced that I’m running for mayor as an independent.”
For now, Clere technically remains a Republican legislator. He plans to serve out the remainder of his term and says nothing about his committee assignments or caucus status has changed.
“As far as I’m concerned, I plan to serve out the remainder of my term,” he said. “None of nothing has changed with respect to my current term and service… I may continue to vote in Republican primaries, which would make me, legally, a Republican in good standing.”
Clere’s move comes amid a broader national shift away from party identification. According to new polling cited by ABC News, a record-high share of Americans — around 45 percent — now identify as political independents, outnumbering both Democrats and Republicans. Clere says he’s been seeing that disillusionment up close for years.
“I talk with constituents all the time who… they’re not just upset with the Republicans, they’re upset with the Democrats, they’re upset with parties,” he said. Voters, he added, “want elected officials at every level to focus on the things that matter to them and that are going to have an impact on their life, and they don’t see that happening.”
He pointed to the recent redistricting fight as a turning point inside his own party.
“That kind of crystallized this for me,” Clere said. Behind the scenes, he argued, many Republican legislators were “overwhelmingly opposed” to the redistricting plan, “but in most cases ended up supporting it.”
“So there’s this contradiction,” he said. “That’s the unfortunate dichotomy and the reality of where we are.”
Clere said the political culture shaped by former President Donald Trump has made internal dissent nearly impossible. “The political culture that Trump has created doesn’t tolerate dissent or disagreement, regardless of how respectful it is,” he said. “We’re in a bad place.”
He insists, however, that his story is less about his own partisan label and more about what his supporters — including many Republicans — are telling him.
“I’ve received overwhelming support from near and far,” he said, noting that messages have come from across the political spectrum. “People are sick and tired of parties… I believe I can have the greatest impact as mayor,” he added, “and I’m excited about running and hopefully serving as mayor without having to consider party politics.”
