Q&A: Meet Natalie Goodwin, new leader of the Marion County Republican Party

Natalie Goodwin

As a Republican, it’s hard to get elected in Indianapolis. Natalie Goodwin has experienced that firsthand.

In 2023, Goodwin ran to represent the far northeastern portion of Indianapolis, which includes Castleton and Geist, while eight months pregnant with her third child. Although the district leaned Democratic, Goodwin thought she had an edge in experience, having previously worked for U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks and U.S. Sen. Todd Young. She also had the backing of Republicans running bigger campaigns, like then-mayoral candidate Jefferson Shreve.

Still, she lost to Democrat Nick Roberts, a Gen Z-er who spent the second most on his campaign among council candidates, just behind Council President Vop Osili.

About a year and a half later—now with a child of that age—Goodwin was elected to lead the Marion County Republican Party. Party insiders voted in a March caucus for Goodwin to succeed former Indy GOP leader Joe Elsener.

The 35-year-old mother of three takes the helm after the well-funded Republican candidate for mayor, Shreve, failed to take down incumbent Joe Hogsett in 2023. Republicans have failed to secure countywide office for more than a decade. And although she starts her leadership in an off-year for elections, the Marion County Prosecutor’s race is already on the horizon.

Goodwin, who works for venture capital firm Ivy Ventures and resides in Lawrence Township with her husband and three children, says the work will start on the ground. IBJ talked with her about her priorities and goals for the party. This interview has been edited.

Tell me a little bit about what starting this role has been like and what some of your first steps have been.

I was grateful to be elected for this leadership role. I did this for the same reason I ran for council; it was just a growing sense of frustration with the direction of the city and not feeling like we were offering solutions.

Obviously, it’s a challenge in Marion County. We can look at the raw numbers and know that we have some work to do to change hearts and minds, to get people excited to interact with the Republican Party in Indianapolis again, and I am willing to do that. But so far, it’s been really great. People have been excited. They’re invigorated, and they’re ready to get to work. 

The initial weeks have been a lot of getting that infrastructure in place. We are working to professionalize, organize and mobilize. And so far, so good, but still a lot to do.

We have no elections in 2025. How are you viewing that process and how to build up to that first goal post of the next big election?

There’s a process that starts on the ground floor with getting people involved. What I’d really like to see our party focusing on over the next four years is, “How can we be engaged and involved in our community?” We just talked about meeting people where they’re at on the messaging front and what’s important to them. But that also means showing up and helping out in our community.

It’s hard to be excited if you don’t know anything about someone, so I think we have to spend a lot of time out there building those relationships, being engaged, being active, showing folks that we care, that we are here, and then start looking about what that means for elections down the line. 

We’re off here next year. The prosecutor will probably be, from the county level, kind of the biggest race on the ticket. Obviously, congressional races are up. There will be some Statehouse folks up, and then there are the other county-wide positions.

We can be recruiting and having people again, out and engaged in really playing the long game here. I understand that it’s going to take time for us to make inroads in some of these places, and I’m willing to dedicate that time.

How do you approach recruiting those candidates as someone who was once one?

I am hopeful that as we are out and engaging in communities, we will be able to elevate leaders, that those folks will raise their hand, that names will start being shared of people who have been here doing the work. They are connected and they’re willing to work on solutions. 

I think folks can get frustrated, specifically at the local level, where it feels like [getting elected as a Republican] is a big reach. But I think you can look at it from the bigger picture. Iron sharpens iron. Successful cities aren’t run by a single party. We need to be challenging each other to do better.

I’m not going to lie, there’s a lot of not great stuff and not fun stuff that happens when you run for office. That’s part of it. But there is a bigger goal here, and that’s making our city a better place to live, work and raise a family. And I think there are a lot of people who are receptive to that message. They share those frustrations and are willing to be part of the solution.

What sticks out to you as something to work on from your own run for office?

I think one of my frustrations does go back to, “how are we supporting candidates?”

Running for office is very challenging, and I want to make sure we have really great people and candidates who care and are there for the right reasons, wanting to step up and do it. So, expecting that one person is going to be able to do every single thing that needs to be done and be a really good candidate and be really good at serving in the role once elected, I think, is unrealistic.

So that’s what I view when I talk about county party and putting that infrastructure in place, is being able to help people say ‘yes’ to running and being those good candidates and those solution providers that we’re looking for.

Does Jefferson Shreve’s run in 2023 show that Indianapolis Republicans need more than a well-funded candidate to win countywide elections?

Yes. Money helps us do a lot of things, but it’s not the only thing, and I think that is clear from where we are.

We have to meet people where they’re at. We have to be in communities, be engaged, be volunteering, be talking to our neighbors, and just hear where they’re at on issues. Then we can find those candidates who align with people in those places and make sure that they’re representing these voices and providing solutions. It’s challenging to accomplish that on a very tight timeline. 

This is a long game, and it’s about making sure that everyone in Indianapolis has a better future to look forward to. I don’t think you can accomplish that in six months.

What do you view as sort of a “Marion County Republican” versus what others might consider a statewide “Indiana Republican?”

I’m not here to define that for anyone. I would say, like all parties, there are a lot of 80/20 issues. In Marion County, you know, we focus on what is bothering us today, and for the most part, what they hear about is infrastructure or crime in neighborhoods.

When we talk about those kinds of issues, there’s a lot more than whether you’re a Marion County Republican, Republican somewhere else in the state, are not affiliated with the party, or you’re a Democrat. We can all agree that in Marion County, there are issues that we need to be working to fix. We are the state capital, and it’s very important to everyone.

Editor’s note: This story is the first of a two-part series on new leadership in central Indiana’s county parties. The next, with Hamilton County Democratic Party Chair Josh Lowry, will be released in coming weeks.