Rodric Bray
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Rodric D. "Rod" Bray (born 1969) is an American politician from
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
. A member of the Republican Party, Bray has been a member of the
Indiana State Senate The Indiana State Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-yea ...
since 2012, representing the 37th state Senate district, which comprises all of Morgan County and a portion of
Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...
,
Owen Owen may refer to: People and fictional characters * Owen (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Places United States * Owen, Missouri, a ghost town * Owen, Wisconsin * Owen County, Indiana ...
and Putnam counties.


Early life and education

Rodric was born to Maurine D. (
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Sweet) and Richard Bray in 1969. His father, Richard, served in the
Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House mem ...
from 1974 to 1992 and in the Indiana Senate from to 1994 to 2012, where he was the Assistant Majority Caucus Chair. His grandfather
William G. Bray William Gilmer Bray (June 17, 1903 – June 4, 1979) was an American lawyer and World War II veteran who served twelve terms as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana from 1951 to 1975. Early life W ...
was a member of the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
from 1951 to 1975, representing Indiana's 6th and 7th congressional districts. Bray is a graduate of Martinsville High School. He attended
Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...
, where he received his
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in
History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
in 1991. Bray also attended
Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States. It is an independent Lutheran university with five colleges. It enrolls nearly 2,300 students and has a campus. The university is known for its Luthe ...
, where he graduated with his
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from the
Valparaiso University School of Law The Valparaiso University Law School was the law school of Valparaiso University, a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. Founded in 1879, the school was accredited by the American Bar Association in 1929 and admitted to the Association ...
in 1994.


Early career

Bray was a deputy prosecuting attorney in
Morgan County, Indiana Morgan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,780. The county seat (and only incorporated city) is Martinsville. Morgan County is between Indianapolis, in Marion C ...
until 1997. He then entered private practice, where he was an attorney with Harris & Currens, and was elected Chairman of the Morgan County Republican Party on August 18, 1998, after the incumbent party chair, Joan Gray, resigned. He served as chair until March 2005. He was succeeded by Martin Weaver as County Party Chair. On August 18, 2003, Bray was appointed city attorney of Martinsville by Mayor Shannon Buskirk, after the death of incumbent Robert St. Clair. Bray served as city attorney until 2007. He was succeeded by Roger Coffin as City Attorney. After serving as city attorney, Bray became a member of the Morgan County Election Board and the general counsel to the Martinsville Plan Commission and Board of Zoning. Bray has also served on the board of directors for Home Bank since 2008.


Indiana State Senate

After his father Richard decided to retire from the
Indiana State Senate The Indiana State Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-yea ...
after five terms, Rodric Bray declared his candidacy for Indiana's 37th State Senate district, officially filing to run on January 24, 2012. Bray faced insurance agent and Morgan County Councilman Ryan Goodwin in the Republican primary. Bray defeated Goodwin 10,115 votes (54.8%) to 8,333 votes (46.2%), in the May 8, 2012 Republican primary. Bray went on to face Democratic nominee Jim Cahill, a
cement truck A concrete mixer (also cement mixer) is a device that homogeneously combines cement, Construction aggregate, aggregate (e.g. sand or gravel), and water to form concrete. A typical concrete mixer uses a revolving drum to mix the components. For ...
driver and
Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a trade union, labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union now represents a di ...
local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...
president, in the general election. Bray prevailed in the November 6 general election with 36,959 votes (71.2%) to Cahill's votes 14,947 (28.8%). Bray was sworn into office on November 20, 2012, by Chief Justice of the
Indiana Supreme Court The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana Statehouse. In Dec ...
Brent Dickson. Bray's district includes all of Morgan County and parts of
Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...
,
Owen Owen may refer to: People and fictional characters * Owen (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Places United States * Owen, Missouri, a ghost town * Owen, Wisconsin * Owen County, Indiana ...
and Putnam counties. Bray was a member of the Senate committees on Corrections and Criminal Law, Health and Provider Services, Local Government, and Utilities. In January 2018, Senate Republicans elected Bray Senate majority leader, after Brandt Hershman retired. In May 2018, Senate Republicans preliminary electedBrian A. Howey
Bray completes Senate power transition
''Howey Politics Indiana'', Vol. 23, No. 37 (May 17, 2018).
Bray to the post of Senate president pro tempore and
Mark Messmer Mark Alan Messmer (born December 16, 1967) is an American politician who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Indiana's 8th congressional district since 2025. A member of the Republican Party (United S ...
to replace Bray as Senate Majority Leader. In the caucus balloting, Bray reportedly won by a single vote over Travis Holdman. Bray was officially elected and took office in November 2018, at the opening of the legislative session.Tom Davies
Indiana Senate’s 1st new leader in 12 years showing caution
Associated Press (November 20, 2018).
The Republicans enjoy a two-thirds
supermajority A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fun ...
in both the state House and state Senate.Arika Herron
Despite prior assurances, schools may see funding cuts. Here's what we know.
''Indianapolis Star'' (August 7, 2020).
As Senate president pro tem, Bray opposed proposals to legalize marijuana in Indiana. He resisted calls for an increase in schoolteacher pay. In 2019, Bray supported a hate crimes bill that provided that judges could considered "bias" in sentencing; with Bray's support, a majority of Senate Republicans had amended the proposal to strip a list of protected victim traits from the original bill, including race, sexual orientation, and gender identity, from the bill, drawing criticism from Democrats, some Republican legislators, Republican Governor
Eric Holcomb Eric Joseph Holcomb ( ; born May 2, 1968) is an American politician who served as the 51st governor of Indiana, from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2016 to 2017 as the 51st Lieuten ...
, and civil rights advocates. In 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana The COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S. state of Indiana on March 5, 2020, and was confirmed on March 6. As of July 12, 2021, the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) had confirmed 757,904 cases in the state and 13,496 deaths. As of July 3, ...
, Bray sent a letter to Indiana school leaders, saying that public schools that did not offer an in-person education option (as opposed to virtual education) risked major cuts in state funding, which could amount to millions of dollars, depending on the student population of the
school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...
.


Personal life

Bray currently resides in
Martinsville, Indiana Martinsville is a city in Washington Township, Morgan County, Indiana, United States. The population was 14,980 at the 2020 United States census. The city is the county seat of Morgan County. History Martinsville was founded in 1822. It is said ...
with his wife, Kelly, and their two sons. Bray attends the First
Global Methodist Church The Global Methodist Church (GM Church, or GMC) is a Methodism, Methodist denomination within Protestant Christianity subscribing to views that were propounded by the conservative Confessing Movement. The Christian denomination, denomination is ...
of Martinsville, where he serves as a member of the Pastor Parish Committee and is a Sunday school teacher.


References


External links


Official Senate WebsiteCampaign Website
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bray, Rodric 1969 births Living people Republican Party Indiana state senators 21st-century members of the Indiana General Assembly Indiana University Bloomington alumni People from Indiana People from Martinsville, Indiana Valparaiso University School of Law alumni