MARTINSVILLE — Indiana Rural Summit Founder Michelle Higgs announced today that she will not be seeking election to Indiana House District 60 in the upcoming cycle and will instead focus her efforts on leading an expanded Indiana Rural Summit coalition, bringing together legislative candidates, community leaders, and volunteers from across the state. Higgs ran for the Indiana House seat in 2024.
“As a fellow constituent, running to represent House District 60 has been one of the great honors of my life, and this decision comes from deep respect for our community,” Higgs said. “HD 60 deserves strong, sustained advocacy — and at this moment, the best way I can serve is by helping build the kind of coordinated, people-powered movement that lifts rural and small-town voices across Indiana, including right here at home. I remain fully committed to the values and needs of Monroe, Morgan, and Johnson County families, and I will continue working alongside local leaders to ensure our communities are seen, heard, and supported at the Statehouse.”
Higgs said the decision reflects a strategic shift toward strengthening coordinated, people-powered infrastructure for rural and small-town communities across Indiana.
“Indiana’s challenges — from healthcare access and housing to public education and economic stability — do not stop at gerrymandered district lines,” Higgs said. “This moment calls for deeper coordination, shared resources, and collective leadership. The Indiana Rural Summit is built to do exactly that.”
Founded as a collaborative network connecting rural and small-town candidates, community leaders and volunteers, the Indiana Rural Summit has grown into a statewide organizing effort focused on candidate support, volunteer engagement, and cross-district collaboration. Under Higgs’ expanded leadership, the coalition will work to amplify local voices, reduce duplication of effort, and strengthen down-ballot races and voter turnout in communities often overlooked by traditional political infrastructure.
“I am excited to be passing the baton to Carrie Syczylo,” says Higgs. “Carrie and her husband own and operate Farmhouse Brew in Monrovia and have been deeply invested in their community. Her experience losing local control over a data center in her neighborhood fuels her desire to bring transparency and accountability to the Indiana General Assembly, where policies governing things like data centers and water protection begin.”
Syczylo filed her candidacy this week with the Indiana Election Division and joins the Indiana Rural Summit coalition.
“I am running for Indiana House District 60 because I realize after spending a lot of time at the Statehouse in the past few months that we must see what is happening with our own eyes, hear it with our own ears,” said Syczylo. “Our Government’s purpose is to form a perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for its citizens and future generations. For these reasons, I will be a voice for Hoosiers and demand accountability and truth at all levels of Government.”
For more information about the Indiana Rural Summit, visit https://indianaruralsummit.org or follow @IndianaRuralSummit.
