Luke Messer, Congressman, IN District 6
House links: Luke Messer (R-IN-6)i 
Campaign links: Luke Messer (R-IN-6)i
Allen Lucas “Luke” Messer
Luke Messer Congressional Candidate Indiana District 6
Biography of Luke Messer from House.gov
Luke Messer is the Congressman for Indiana’s 6th Congressional District, a 19 county region of east-central and southeastern Indiana comprised of manufacturing and agricultural communities. Elected President of the Freshman Class by his peers, Messer serves on the House Committees on Budget, Foreign Affairs, and Education & the Workforce.
Congressman Messer is a 6th-generation Hoosier and national advocate for limited government, fiscal discipline, a strong national defense, and traditional values. Messer opposes bailouts, government takeovers and runaway federal spending.
Prior to his service in Congress, Luke Messer gained experience as a lawyer and former two-term State Representative working with Governor Daniels on budget issues as a Member of the Indiana House Ways & Means Committee. Messer is an accomplished education reformer: authoring nationally recognized high school drop-out reform legislation in the Indiana Statehouse and serving in the private sector as the President and CEO of the Hoosiers for Economic Growth Network & School Choice Indiana.
Raised by a single-mom who still works at a factory in Greensburg Indiana, Luke Messer was taught the value of hard work at an early age. He worked his way through school with jobs that included collecting garbage, mowing lawns, waiting tables, telemarketing and umpiring baseball games. Eventually, Messer graduated summa cum laude & Phi Beta Kappa from Wabash College. Luke earned his law degree at Vanderbilt University where he also served on the Law Review.
Luke and his wife Jennifer have two daughters, one son and three dogs. Luke has also served as an elder at his church and is the author of a children’s book about Indiana entitled “Hoosier Heart.”
Biography of Luke Messer from Luke Messer for Congress
A sixth generation Hoosier, Luke Messer represents the next generation of conservative leadership. Luke has dedicated his life to community service, promoting conservative principles and making Indiana a better place to raise our families.
Luke Messer is a reformer with a proven record of delivering results. His passion for public service led Luke to the state legislature, where he represented Shelby and Bartholomew counties. As a member of the House Education Committee, Luke’s work on high school drop-out prevention received national recognition and was featured in Time magazine and on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
A reflection of his leadership abilities, Luke rose quickly through the ranks to serve on the House Ways & Means Committee and become a member of the House leadership team in just his third year in the legislature. Luke helped Governor Daniels craft the state’s first honestly balanced budget in eight years that, without a tax increase, turned a $600 million deficit into a $300 million surplus in a single year. A conservative, Luke earned a 100% rating from Indiana Right to Life, an “A” rating from the NRA, and was endorsed by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, among many others.
A leader and spokesman, Luke Messer represents the future of the Republican Party. Luke has appeared regularly on television and radio programs around the state, including the PBS program “Indiana Week in Review.” Among other honors, Luke has been recognized as a “Champion of Diversity” by Indiana Minority Business Magazine and was named one of the “Top Forty Business Leaders Under Forty” by the Indianapolis Business Journal.
From 2001-2005, Luke served as the Executive Director and chief spokesman of the Indiana Republican Party helping to revitalize the Party and lay the groundwork for Governor Daniels’ successful 2004 election. During his tenure, Luke helped Chairman Jim Kittle rebuild the Party’s infrastructure and provide historic electoral victories including congressional gains, a statehouse majority, and sweeping statewide elections in 2002 and 2004.
An attorney, Luke Messer also has experience in government at the federal level. Luke served as Subcommittee Counsel on the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs for U.S. Congressman David McIntosh, Legal Counsel for U.S. Congressman Jim Duncan and as Press Secretary for U.S. Congressman Ed Bryant.
A devoted husband and father, Luke Messer learned the value of hard work at an early age. Luke was raised by his single mom in Greensburg. He worked his way through school and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Wabash College, and earned his law degree at Vanderbilt University where he also served on the Law Review. Later, Luke co-founded a not-for-profit organization called Child Share Indiana that advocates for Indiana foster children and their foster families, seeking to involve the faith community in foster care services.
Luke is currently the Executive Director of Hoosiers for Economic Growth (HEG), a privately funded not-for-profit advocacy group focused on electing state policy leaders who support a positive, pro-growth, education reform agenda for Indiana’s future. HEG champions conservative candidates and conservative causes.
In 2010, Luke came within 2 percentage points of defeating a 28-year incumbent Congressman in a seven-way primary for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District. The newly adopted congressional maps place Messer back in Indiana’s 6th Congressional District.
Luke, his wife Jennifer, their two daughters, Emma and Ava, and son, Hudson, live in Shelbyville, Indiana. In 2006, Luke authored and Jennifer illustrated a children’s book about Indiana entitled “Hoosier Heart.” The Messer family attends First Presbyterian church in Shelbyville where Luke serves as an elder.