Two Candidates for Indiana State Treasurer Want to Help Hoosiers More

Indiana voters will soon choose between two candidates for State Treasurer — a job that most people don't know much about. Republican Daniel Elliott currently holds the office, and Democrat Coumba Kebe wants to take his place. The State Treasurer manages about $16 billion of Indiana's money every single day. Both candidates say the office can do a lot more to help everyday Hoosiers, which is a nickname for people who live in Indiana.

Coumba Kebe is 31 years old and owns a small business in the healthcare field. She decided to run for Treasurer after she saw Indiana start cutting money from Medicaid, which is a government health program that helps low-income people pay for medical care. She spoke to state lawmakers about how those cuts would hurt people, but she says no one listened. The number of people on the Medicaid waiting list grew from 6,500 to 22,000, and rural hospitals across the state began closing or shutting down departments.

Kebe believes most Indiana residents don't know what the Treasurer's office can actually do. For example, the office can give low-cost loans — money lent at a small interest rate — to cities and towns that are struggling. She pointed to Gary, Indiana, which lost electricity for almost three weeks after a major storm on August 11. She says the Treasurer's office could have stepped in faster to help with recovery costs.

Kebe is also worried that Indiana is bragging about having a big budget surplus while everyday services are struggling. A surplus means the state has more money saved than it is spending. She noted that around 300 daycare centers have closed across the state. She said the state should use more of its saved money to help residents instead of just holding onto it.

When it comes to investing Indiana's money, Kebe wants more openness about costs and risks. She criticized Elliott for putting the investment company BlackRock on a state watchlist in 2024. BlackRock had been using ESG investing, which means considering environmental, social, and government factors when making financial decisions. Kebe said that decision was more about politics than about protecting Indiana's money.

Daniel Elliott, who is 56 years old and works as a software engineer, defended his decision about BlackRock. He said the law he helped write requires the state to invest money based only on financial results, not political ideas. He argued that retirees — people who have stopped working and depend on their savings — should not lose money because of political choices. He said BlackRock was not following those financial-only rules when he first took office.

Elliott also raised concerns about BlackRock trying to buy AES Corporation, the electric company that serves more than 500,000 customers in Marion County. He said letting a big investment firm control a utility could be bad for the people who depend on it. Customers cannot choose their electric company, he pointed out, so that company must be responsible. He worried that data centers, which use huge amounts of electricity, could drive up costs for regular customers.

After the August storms, Elliott's office created a program that lets communities borrow up to $1 million at just 2% interest for cleanup and repairs. Once a town gets federal disaster money, it pays the loan back. Elliott said the Governor's office wanted to help but was not allowed to by law, while the Treasurer's office could act. He added that the federal disaster agency FEMA is looking at copying the program in other states.

If Elliott wins reelection, he wants to strengthen cybersecurity for the state's 911 system, which his office oversees. He said Indiana's 911 system is one of the most advanced in the country, which also makes it a target for hackers. The system already offers translation services in Haitian Creole and allows people to send text messages to 911, a feature not every state has. Elliott says protecting this system is one of his top priorities going forward.