Mrs. Joanna "Jo" Blacketor - Indiana District 7 Republican Representative

NEWS

South Bend Tribune-11/27/03

Blacketor to seek District 7 House seat

By JAMES WENSITS
Tribune Political Writer

SOUTH BEND -- South Bend school board member Jo Blacketor said Wednesday that she would seek the Republican nomination for the District 7 state representative seat. The decision means Blacketor will not seek re-election to the school board, where she is in her second term as an at-large member. The seat is currently held by state Rep. Thomas Kromkowski, a South Bend Democrat who has represented the district since 1980. "I am running because I think I can make a difference," Blacketor said Wednesday. She said she is running as a Republican because her principles are "aligned with the Republican philosophy" and because she is a conservative, both fiscally and socially. District 7 includes western and southern St. Joseph County and a portion of southwest South Bend. Blacketor listed education, economic development and healthcare among the top issues facing the state and said improving education and health care are essential to turning the Indiana economy around. Blacketor said the high cost of health insurance has caused some companies to leave Indiana and others to stay away. She said one of her goals is to define health care problems in the state as they relate to corporate businesses. Blacketor said she is also concerned about the "lack of concern" exhibited by the legislature regarding the need for more education funding in the state. The state school funding formula is so complex, Blacketor said, that only a few people actually understand it. If elected, Blacketor said she would work toward making the formula easier to understand and use. Blacketor said property tax problems need to be reviewed and said the current effort "is not a cut, it's a shift." As a state legislator, Blacketor said she would listen to both sides and then form her opinion. "I do my homework and I come prepared," she said of her personal style. Blacketor, 48, is an insurance agent for the AFLAC Company, as is her husband, Dan. She holds a bachelor's degree in social work from the University of Florida and an associate degree in preschool education. State Rep. Richard Mangus, R-District 21, issued a statement endorsing Blacketor for the legislative seat.