(WHITELAND) – Johnson County Democratic precinct committee member Rev. Mark J. Powell is running for the Democratic nomination in the May 5th primary to represent the 9th Congressional District which stretches from Johnson County to the north to the Ohio River.
Pastor Powell was a vocal opponent to the Republican Party leadership last spring when GOP officials gave the disgraced former Johnson County Prosecutor Bradley Cooper who pleaded guilty to beating his fiancé, a former WISH TV reporter, a slap on the wrist. The pastor said at that time that special treatment was given to Cooper from the Johnson County Sheriff’s office, Indiana State Police and the State Judicial system all controlled by Republicans. Pastor Powell stated,
“What the state GOP leadership did last year was unjust to every woman in this state that has suffered domestic abuse. When I was calling for Prosecutor Cooper to resign after pleading guilty to three felonies I could hear crickets coming from Mr. Hollingsworth and Mr. Holcomb. Those who serve as a Member of Congress and as a governor need to lead not cower. With the felony actions of Prosecutor Cooper who got “special Republican justice” in the form of a relative slap on the wrist for beating his fiancé like a dog, Pastor Powell joined the Johnson County Democratic Party in protest to the way Republican officeholders treat women. “
“I served in the Republican Party in Illinois, Kansas, and Michigan before coming to Indiana but with this two-tier justice system for GOP officeholders, I cannot in good conscience stay a member of the Republican Party. Mr. Cooper was not one bad apple. The current Indiana Attorney General and the current President of the United States both Republicans have allegedly sexually grabbed women according to accounts of their victims. We must move from a politics of fear and division to a politics of love and empathy for one another. Then we will live in a newer America, a better America. I invite every person of goodwill who wants a better America to join this campaign with your financial, volunteer and prayer support. America needs more pastors in Congress instead of multi-millionaires. The first Speaker of the House was a Lutheran pastor,” Powell stated.
