Is Rep. Baird using taxpayer funds to prep his son for a congressional seat? An opponent thinks so

Indianapolis Star

18 hours ago

A July mailer sent by Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Baird's congressional office to Hoosiers in Warren County includes an image of not one, but two elected Bairds.
In the photo, Congressman Baird and his son, Greencastle Republican state Rep. Beau Baird, stand alongside a boy and a cow. Bold text on the mailer reads 'Congressman Baird champions the One Big Beautiful Bill to support Hoosier farmers.'
For years, Beau Baird has been rumored as a future candidate for the 4th Congressional District, which contains the counties immediately to the west of Marion County, should his father choose not to run for another term in Congress. Recently, the elder Baird has used pictures of his son in taxpayer-funded mailers and has started omitting his first name in some materials when identifying himself in prominent spots, referring to himself instead as simply "Congressman Baird."
Congressman Baird hasn't yet said if he's running for reelection, and legally he isn't doing anything wrong, experts say. But if his son runs instead, he'll get the perk of already-built-in name recognition from years of the last name being on the ballot and on official office material.
At least one 2026 Republican candidate for the 4th Congressional District, stretching from Morgan County north to Jasper and Newton counties, said it's wrong for Jim Baird to include photos of his son in his congressional communication materials.
'The perception is, and I believe it to be true, that there's a little bit of nepotism going on,' said state Rep. Craig Haggard, R-Mooresville. "And he's trying to use taxpayer money to enhance his son's chance of winning his seat.'
It's not unusual for members of Indiana's U.S. House delegation to share photos of their family members in taxpayer-funded communication materials from their congressional office. U.S. Rep. Jefferson Shreve in March, for example, shared a photo in an email newsletter to constituents of him and his wife, Mary, as he took the oath of office with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson by his side.
But Congressman Jim Baird's use of franking, a congressional privilege that lets elected officials use taxpayer-funded member allowances to communicate with constituents, has included at least seven photos of Beau Baird in mailers since 2023.
Of Indiana's U.S. House delegation, Baird spent more on franking by mail in 2024 than all other members but U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz at nearly $174,000.
Those materials were approved by a bipartisan group of lawmakers known as the House Communications Standards Commission. Additionally, ethics experts that spoke with IndyStar said Jim Baird's materials with his son pictured are likely not a violation of any franking rules.
A spokesperson for Baird's office in a statement to IndyStar reiterated that all mass communications are reviewed by the congressman's office and the bipartisan House commission.
'Photos in official mass communications are selected from events the Congressman attends across the district,' the spokesperson said. 'While other individuals may appear, only the Congressman is identified in these materials. Every mass communication is reviewed and approved to ensure compliance with Franking guidelines before distribution.'
But name recognition does give candidates for elected office a boost. Hoosier elected officials that have used the family last name have seen successes in past elections. Current Democratic U.S. Rep. André Carson, who is in his ninth term in Congress, took over his grandmother Julia Carson's congressional seat after she died in 2007. Evan Bayh, the former Indiana governor, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998, a seat his father Birch Bayh held from 1963 to 1981.
"That name recognition is worth a lot," said Mike Wolf, the chair of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Purdue University Fort Wayne. "It's not a surprise that they would also slip in somebody who would doesn't have the federal franking privilege, but gets the benefit of it."
House franking guidelines allow members to share photos of their family members in materials if the image is still related to the official business of the office and if they don't explicitly introduce or endorse their relative. None of the materials sent by Jim Baird's office that included photos of Beau Baird identify him by name, nor do they label Baird as the congressman's son or as a state representative.
"Do I think that there's probably a line that maybe is being towed a little bit here, yes," said Danielle Caputo, senior legal counsel with the Campaign Legal Center who viewed some of the mailers with Baird and his son. "But he's not being referenced. I saw some of the photos. They're very small. It's not like he's front and center. It's not very clear that he is anyone."
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Donald Sherman, the executive vice president and chief counsel for Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington, D.C., said he personally had not seen a member of Congress include family members in franked materials, but elected officials across party lines often want to keep a seat in their family.
'I wouldn't be shocked if it had happened before,' Sherman said. 'But it doesn't fall within any technical restrictions in the rules.'
Two years ago, Haggard announced a plan to run for Congress if Jim Baird stepped away from another term representing the 4th Congressional District. But Haggard said he's done waiting: he filed his paperwork Aug. 8 to run for the seat in 2026.
'I believe I'll be running against a Baird,' Haggard said of next year's 4th District Republican primary. 'Which Baird? I don't know.'
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at [e-mail].
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at [e-mail] or follow her on X@kayla_dwyer17.