INDIANAPOLIS - A battle over whether Indiana's roads are crumbling erupted into a major campaign issue this week with Gov. Mike Pence's administration going on the offensive.
The Indiana Department of Transportation and Pence have taken to Twitter in the last two days to defend the state's infrastructure. And the Indiana Republican Party decried a mailer sent by a coalition called BetterRoadsAhead.org attacking the governor.
"Accusations that Indiana’s infrastructure is 'crumbling' are irresponsible and false and only scare the public," Pence retweeted Wednesday.
INDOT followed up Thursday with "Indiana's roads are improving, not 'crumbling.' Our critics should get their facts straight."
All this was brought to a head when a bridge along Interstate 65 failed and had to be shut down for more than a month in August. Two Hoosiers also died on the resulting detour.
That bridge is one of more than 1,900 state-maintained bridges deemed structurally deficient, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
Pence - whose popularity has plummeted in Indiana - is locked in a re-election battle with Democrat John Gregg, and the infrastructure issue has catapulted into a top-tier topic.
"Governor Pence can throw out any statistic he wants, but it doesn't address the state's existing infrastructure that sadly achieved a D+ rating by the American Society of Civil Engineers," said Drew Anderson, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party. "With the I-65 bridge closure, State Road 156 slide off, and $71 million wasted on faulty asphalt as examples of Indiana's failing roads and bridges, Mike Pence has put our state's “Crossroads of America” reputation in jeopardy."