Loading ...
Brian A. Howey is Indiana’s leading political analyst and commentator. A third-generation Hoosier journalist, his political column appears in almost two dozen newspapers weekly, reaching 200,000 readers.
Brian Howey’s appeal transcends political ideology and party politics. His work appeared simultarneously in the alternative NUVO Newsweekly, Indianapolis Star/News, Indianapolis Business Journal all while he edited Hudson Institute’s quarterly newsletter, Visions. "I remember days when I literally split my time between Hudson’s ornate headquarters and NUVO with its ceiling draped in black plastic."
Howey came of age politically in 1968 when Sen. Robert F. Kennedy came to his hometown of Peru, Ind., campaigning on the Wabash Cannon Ball during the last Indiana presidential primary that really meant anything. Howey recalled, "I’ll never forget watching Bobby and Ethel Kennedy waving as the train pulled away on the N&W tracks; it’s a haunting image in my mind."
As a youth, he served as an Indiana General Assembly page to House Speaker Kermit Burrous. Accompanying his father to an Associated Press Managing Editors Convention at Disney World in November 1973, he was in the audience when President Richard M. Nixon made his famous, "I’m not a crook" declaration before a nationally televised press conference.
Howey’s newspaper career began as an intern with the Peru Daily Tribune, followed by a year at the Warsaw Times-Union, 11 years at the Elkhart Truth where he began his weekly political column in 1985, and three years at the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette where he also published a political column. His political commentary at Elkhart put him on a collision course with Congressional level politics, reporting on the 1986 elections that ended in a recount between Rep. John Hiler and Democrat Tom Ward. It was during that recount - which went a long way in shaping Indiana election law - that Howey covered young Secretary of State Evan Bayh and a grizzled Republican pol named Rex Early.
He began publishing The Howey Political Report, the weekly briefing on Indiana politics, in 1994 in Fort Wayne, moving the operation to Indianapolis in 1995. Readers of The Howey Political Report can expect to be kept ahead of the curve on the many exciting elements that make Indiana such an interesting state politically. He was alone in forecasting the Republican takeover of three Congressional seats and the Indiana House in 1994. He accurately forecast the split 50/50 House in 1996.
In 1999, HPR/TeleResearch trending forecast predicted Democratic mayoral wins in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne and a Republican win in Evansville.
In 1999 Howey initiated the Pre-Election Briefing Series in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend and Evansville. That culminated in the June 2000 Forum on Campaign Ethics that featured the candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and attorney general. Since then, the HPR Forum has featured keynote speeches from Govs. Frank O’Bannon, Joe Kernan and Mitch Daniels, U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, Stuart Rothenberg, Charlie Cook, Dr. Larry Sabato and Chief Justice Randall Shepard.
Howey’s writing has been published in Newsday, Indianapolis Monthly, Notre Dame Magazine and Indiana Business Magazine.
Between 2002 and 2004, Howey was publisher of The Indianapolis Eye Online Magazine.
He has been honored for his investigative reporting and community activism by the Society for Professional Journalists, the Inland Press Association at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Hoosier State Press Association, and Toastmasters International.
Howey grew up in Michigan City and Peru, and earned degrees at Vincennes University and Indiana University - Bloomington in journalism and history. He is an Eagle Scout. An ardent outdoorsman, on weekends Howey can often be found sailing his Hobie Cat, canoeing Indiana streams, hiking or downhill skiing. He resides in the Broad Ripple section of Indianapolis with his sons, Thomas and Stephen, daughter Jordan and wife Beverly Phillips. His father, Jack E. Howey, was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 1999 after a 45-year career with the Nixon Newspapers chain. His mother, Mary Lou, was an editor. Howey’s grandfather, Basil A. Howey, owned the Chesterton Gazette and worked for the Gary Post-Tribune. "Ink runs in my family veins," Howey likes to say.
No tag for this post.Related posts
This entry was written by and posted on January 14, 2008 at 11:47 am and filed under HPI Bios. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
Post a comment(Latest is displayed first) or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.