Edward Upton Sein
Edward Upton Sein (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Indiana's 8th Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on May 7, 2024.
Sein completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Edward Upton Sein was born in New York. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern Indiana in 2011. His career experience includes working as a sales manager, professional guitarist, and in live event and television production.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Indiana's 8th Congressional District election, 2024
Indiana's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (May 7 Republican primary)
Indiana's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (May 7 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Indiana District 8
Erik Hurt, Mark Messmer, and K. Richard Fitzlaff are running in the general election for U.S. House Indiana District 8 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Erik Hurt (D)  | |
 | Mark Messmer (R) | |
 | K. Richard Fitzlaff (L) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Indiana District 8
Erik Hurt defeated Edward Upton Sein, Michael Talarzyk, and Peter Priest II in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Indiana District 8 on May 7, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Erik Hurt | 45.1 | 8,204 |
 | Edward Upton Sein | 22.5 | 4,087 | |
 | Michael Talarzyk | 20.9 | 3,796 | |
 | Peter Priest II | 11.5 | 2,098 | |
| Total votes: 18,185 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kellie Moore (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Indiana District 8
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Indiana District 8 on May 7, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Messmer | 38.5 | 30,668 |
 | John N. Hostettler | 19.7 | 15,649 | |
 | Richard Moss | 14.1 | 11,227 | |
 | Dominick Jack Kavanaugh | 11.8 | 9,397 | |
 | Kristi Risk | 9.2 | 7,350 | |
 | Luke Misner | 2.9 | 2,287 | |
 | Jim Case | 2.6 | 2,107 | |
 | Jeremy Heath | 1.2 | 944 | |
| Total votes: 79,629 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jon Schrock (R)
- Larry Bucshon (R)
Endorsements
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Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Edward Upton Sein completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Sein's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I have been living in Southern Indiana for 25 years, working in Evansville-Vanderburgh County and reside in nearby Boonville-Warrick County. My wife Melissa of 32 years and I have raised a family here, with our two boys starting their early childhood education at Main Street Baptist Church and completing their K-12 education in Boonville’s public schools. I’m a well-known and respected local musician who has provided for his family by performing in numerous musical groups and helping to manage and grow a decades-long, family retail business, in the niche market of guitar sales since moving to the area in May of 1999. My occupation has allowed me to interact with a broad cross-section of my community. My professionalism and personal integrity has earned me the respect and support of many concerned citizens, whom I respectfully asks to represent. I believe issues of family, prosperity, security and quality of life are not partisan, and affect all Americans. By working together in the spirit of civility, respect and compromise, I believe the constituents of Indiana Congressional District 8 can send a message to our fellow citizens across the State and the nation that we have had enough of the hateful, mean-spiritedness that has come to define politics, and we are ready to show America that the Hoosiers of IN CD8 know how to act right.
- Congress is the People’s House. The culture and its members must reflect the values and socioeconomic concerns that are emblematic of the electorate. Community members work together in common cause to solve issues that affect us all. Good neighbors respect each other’s boundaries, help support one another in times of need and celebrate the positive moments that give meaning to our lives. The 99% of the things we agree on are not overshadowed by the 1% in which we don’t. The divisiveness and mean-spiritedness that has become commonplace in politics does not represent Hoosier values. The incentive to vilify and demonize for political gain is dangerous to the body politic and, concerned citizens have had enough. It’s time to change Congress.
- The maxim, “All politics is local”, no longer applies at this current moment in history. Every District-level race has national implications. With margins so slim in the House of Representatives, the balance of power will dictate how America will handle the challenges facing our nation and the world. The slide towards autocracy facing many democracies around the world, including here in America, represents a historic shift that has profound implications for freedom of speech, bodily autonomy, the foundational principles of justice and the foundational principles of multi-racial democracy. To characterize this moment in American history is not an exercise in hyperbole but a frank and empirical analysis of the political moment.
- Voting is not a choice, it is an act of survival and survival is not a choice. The issues that confront our nation and communities transcend partisanship. Safety, security, the health and general welfare of our nation and our shared quality of life are shared concerns among all citizens. I am a pragmatic candidate who self-identifies as an American first and foremost. I recognize and will consider all points of view but will agree to disagree when ideas conflict with my values. These are: freedom, human rights, pluralism, security, the rule of law and democracy. My patriotism is expressed by my commitment to know the issues of the day and to be able to speak to them. I have taken on this responsibility as the price of freedom.
Public education, gun legislation reform, immigration reform, women’s reproductive health rights and bodily autonomy, infrastructure and small business investment, social and climate justice are among the issues I believe touch every American citizen in some meaningful way. I am personally passionate about all of these and more.
There are so many examples to choose from, the benefit of being a lifelong reader. I’m currently reading “The Measure of A Man”, an autobiography by Sidney Poitier; not about his life in Hollywood but his personal life story and one of a life well lived. It’s a self-reflection on the events and experiences that shaped the man he came to be. I’m drawn to stories of perseverance, strength through adversity, mental fortitude, courage and emotional intelligence, like Mr. Poitier’s . I have had the benefit to read of men and women who’ve given me the gift of their life stories so I can live my own in the best possible way.
I’m a voracious reader and lover of film and the television arts. There is one particular work that comes to mind though. I’ve been reminded on more than one occasion, because of ongoing litigation regarding presidential immunity from criminal prosecution, of the first episode of the HBO series, “John Adams”. It is a dramatization of the trial of the British garrison troops who opened fire upon an attacking mob. John Adams successfully defended and acquitted the British soldiers in what history remembers as, “The Boston Massacre”. Using the evidentiary process of open court, and the rule of law, Adams proved to Crown that Massachusetts men were loyal to the principle that Justice under the Law prevailed in that colony. British troops, an occupying force, received a fair trial despite the circumstances that prevailed at that moment in history. The very notion that no one person is above the law is being litigated right now in the 21st century. The first episode of HBO’s “John Adams” illustrates the fairness and impartiality of justice under the law in the 18th.
A citizen in our democracy is elected to serve and to be a representative of the citizens who have voted to invest the power of their own self-rule in that individual. The word, “leader”, does not appear in the Constitution. Humility, temperance and virtue are the characteristics and principles of adults who seek to improve themselves over the course of a life well lived and are absolutely essential for those who wish to be an elected official. Humility- to acknowledge the limitations of one’s experience and intellect yet commit to contribute to something greater than one’s self. Temperance-moderation and self-restraint with an acknowledgment of the passions that drive us and make us human yet, not be governed by them. Virtue- which also means valor, manliness, excellence and good character. Emotional intelligence is “the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict.” As a man, I believe the baseline of masculinity, the place from which to begin, is the role of protector. Personal, physical, healthful growth and wellbeing and mental fortitude in order to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves are important characteristics and are not at all limited to my gender. These are the qualities of a well-rounded person. An elected official is in the position to show their fellow citizens, by example, how to be and exemplify leadership so that all citizens can exercise the rights and responsibilities that come with them. We the People are the leaders and I ask to be your Representative.
The ability to listen. It’s a purposeful exercise. To truly listen to and see someone is an act of grace; one in which I’ve yet to master but try to practice daily. I also exercise positive mental attitude. It too, is a purposeful act. I have a lifetime’s worth of a studious approach to history, politics, political science and the humanities. My academic background is reinforced by my personal experiences, growing up and working in Manhattan, NYC for the first half of my life. My 25 years living in Southern Indiana has offered a juxtaposition, a shift in lifestyle and perspective that has allowed me to gain a holistic perspective of life in America. I suppose my own self is the quality I believe would make me a successful office holder.
The personal act of self-improvement and commitment to the greater good of the community becomes a daily, public act for an elected official. When done properly, it should be exhausting. It should be an expression and reminder that it is a term of service. The impermanence of elected office is a defining characteristic of public life. When that term of service ends, by the will of the people, there should be a sense of relief. If called upon to serve another term, there should be a personal reckoning and an acknowledgment of the obligation and commitment to the hard work ahead. I think it would be irresponsible to fail to remind the electorate that political office was to be a temporary term of service, not an open-ended career opportunity. While there is value in institutional knowledge that can only be gained through experience, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives should take on a mentorship role and be ready to share and download the lessons learned to newly elected members as soon as possible. I believe this is a core responsibility to the institution of Congress and an obligatory reminder to the electorate that they are responsible for engaging in the process that keeps a steady stream of good candidates flowing, ready to represent the will of the people.
A new form of politics, civil discourse, an expression of patriotism and masculinity that embraces and supports rather than discriminates and oppresses.
The Iranian hostage crisis. It dominated the news at the time but also, because there was a girl in my class who was directly affected by it. I was 8 or nine years old, in the third grade. I’m a product of the New York City Public School system. My classmate went away to Iran and came back that year. She was one of many classmates who tracked with me K through 6th grade. When we first heard America described as a melting pot in the 4th grade, all we had to do was look around our classroom. We knew it was true.
Interior demolition. I was a young teenager on a crew of grown men, some of whom were on work-release-a form of parole. I had it over a summer break and determined that it was not how I wanted to learn a living. I did learn a valuable lesson. There are men in this world who are nice on purpose. Quite deliberately so because, kindness is not their default mode of behavior.
Too many great ones to choose from! Okay. “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexander Dumas. It’s the prototypical novel of the modern era and I’ve emit several times. I love discussing books. Indulge me: Of the books I read last year, I’ve been recommending the brilliant novel “Circe”, by Madeline Miller. For history buffs, “American Nations” by Colin Woodard, is a fascinating history of the eleven rival regional cultures that made up North America. “Madison’s Militia” is an interesting examination of the history and contemporaneous debate and development of the 2nd Amendment by Carl T. Bogus. I also re-read “The Three Body Problem” by Cixin Liu and the two following novels that make up his Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy in preparation for the cinematic release of this seminal work of science-fiction on Netflix. I read a lot and have many favorite books.
I’m a musician. I always have music in my head. At this moment it’s a song of my own stuck in my head- a work in progress.
Besides the financial struggles of a working class man who works over 40 hours a week and is one stroke of bad luck from financial ruin? Life in America is a struggle and is the default condition for too many citizens. Have I really struggled though? Not as much as some, not nearly as much as too many in a nation so great as ours.
The U.S.House of Representatives is “The People’s House”. It has the unique position of being representative of a region, a community, a District, a slice of America that has unique as well as universal needs and concerns. There are 435 representatives whose privilege and responsibility is to serve millions of Americans. There is no greater privilege in my estimation. There is no institution that represents and embodies our national motto…
“E pluribus unum”: Out of many, one. Indeed.
It is beneficial but not prerequisite.
I believe the greatest challenge comes from within. There is a faction that believes in a theologically based society and supports the jurisprudence to advance it in the public sphere. Inflammatory rhetoric and the selective interpretation of history and our founding documents are used to advocate for an America in which Pluralism, a foundational principle, is subordinated by one religious ideology. This decades-long movement has culminated in the entrenchment of officials in the legislature and judiciary who are now in the position to execute their policies, and are doing so cloaked in the guise of the principles of liberty and freedom. They cry “persecution” when challenged and self-righteously justify their actions by claiming their opposition is bent on “destroying” America. Characterizing their opposition as the enemy, insisting that there is no morality without their religion and “other-izing” fellow Americans who do not subscribe to their point of view is a danger to the body politic. Entertaining the idea of an approaching “civil war” is a regular feature of the discourse and I think is an attempt to normalize the idea that, “the ends justify the means”.
I believe it is ideal but for the fact that fundraising is, to put it politely, a requisite challenge representatives must rise to. To put it bluntly, fundraising is an insidious chore that eats into a disproportionate amount of time and effort that makes two years a criminally short amount of time in which to accomplish anything.
Term limits are a central element of electoral politics. The benefits of institutional knowledge accrued over time through experience must be balanced by the steady onboarding of new candidates who represent the will of the electorate. This dynamic relies on voter engagement and the responsibility of political parties to get and recruit good candidates for electorate to vote for. There is much room for improvement.
A few come to mind, Shirley Chisholm, Margaret Chase Smith, Hakeem Jeffries, Katie Porter, Adam Schiff…there are many fine Americans on both sides of the aisle who put their country before their party. It is their willingness and courage to make a stand that I find exemplary.
I recently heard the story of Sgt. Breonna Moffett of Georgia while driving to work. She was killed in action in a drone strike in Jordan this past January. She was an exemplary leader who was a consummate professional. She taught others how to be. I listened to how she would take extra time to help cadets with their competitive drills, how a superior had to suppress the reflex to salute her while passing in a hallway because she was that kind of soldier, and how her leadership skills could only have come from a family that loved her, supported her and prepared her to be a good citizen, which was why she hit the ground running when she answered the call to serve our country. Sgt. Moffett was a member of the Georgia National Guard, American, constituent and someone’s daughter. I wept listening to the radio that morning, on my way to work.
I’ve heard a lot of great jokes and have forgotten all the best ones. For some reason, my brain doesn’t retain them. I’ve been aware of this for sometime.
“Compromise”, is not a dirty word. Any student of American history knows that only through compromise did we achieve our system of governance. It is a necessary condition of policymaking and a hallmark of the democratic process.
“Any law not based on reason is a menace to the State” I certainly would not hold the full faith and credit of the United States of America hostage to force my legislative priorities through.
Judiciously and in a manner that acknowledges the importance and gravitas of circumstances that demand the investigative powers of the House of Representatives. Never for political grandstanding or malicious intent.
I believe I will have the endorsement of the Democratic Party coalition that comprises Indiana’s 8th Congressional District.
Indiana 8th Congressional District Chair Dave Crooks is my Campaign Manager
The Committee on Agriculture. Specifically, the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research.
The Committee on Armed Services.
Specifically, the Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces.
The Committee on Small Businesses is also of interest to me.
Financial transparency and government accountability are foundational principles. In a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, there can be no higher standard.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Indiana District 8 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 4, 2024
