John Mutz, RINO on Parade: Right, Left, Right, Left...

"Right, left, sit down!" Trump Dirangement Syndrome Has Affected Another You May Have Voted for Once.

The former Indiana lieutenant governor still calls himself a Republican. His record on Donald Trump—and his 2026 political checkbook—raises a fair question: Republican by whose definition?

INDIANAPOLIS — John Mutz has one of the longest Republican résumés in Indiana politics. He served in the Indiana House and Senate, spent eight years as lieutenant governor under Gov. Robert Orr, became the Republican nominee for governor in 1988 and built an extensive career in Indiana business and civic life. Nobody can plausibly erase that history. (Indianapolis Business Journal)

But neither can Mutz erase what he wrote about Donald Trump, or can he defeat him. He is powerless compared to Donald J. Trump. That much is evident. Trump works and uses new ideas to build and Make America Great. He has the support of so many and yes, won 3 times.

In September 2020, Mutz published an Indianapolis Business Journal commentary under a headline that left remarkably little room for interpretation: “I’m still a proud Republican, but we must defeat Trump.” Mutz wrote that he had never voted for a Democrat for president before Trump's candidacy, accused Trump of corrupt behavior and self-dealing, and warned that another Trump term could push America toward an “authoritarian state.” (Indianapolis Business Journal)

He didn't merely decline to vote for Trump. Mutz told IBJ that he intended to vote for Democrat Joe Biden and had donated $1,000 to Biden's campaign. At the same time, he insisted: “I’m still a Republican.” (Indianapolis Business Journal)

That was six years ago. Trump has since returned to the White House, while the Republican Party—nationally and in Indiana—has moved decisively in Trump's direction.

Mutz, apparently, has not.

The 2026 Checkbook Tells Its Own Story

Calling Mutz's opposition “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” or TDS, is obviously political commentary rather than a medical diagnosis. But for Trump Republicans, the label captures something striking about Mutz's political journey: his opposition to Trump has survived elections, controversies, political comebacks and an enormous transformation of the Republican electorate.

And now there is money involved.

The campaign-finance information displayed in the accompanying image deserves context because several entries can otherwise be misunderstood. Public campaign-finance data compiled by Transparency USA show Carolyn and John Mutz giving $10,000 to Hoosiers for Competitive Elections on Feb. 5, 2026, and $10,000 to Taxpayers for Greg Walker on April 13. (Transparency USA)

Hoosiers for Competitive Elections isn't simply another Republican committee. It was established to support independent candidates, and its largest expenditure listed by Transparency USA was $131,000 to Greg Ballard. Indiana Capital Chronicle subsequently reported that the PAC supplied nearly $450,000 to Ballard's independent secretary-of-state campaign during the spring. (Transparency USA)

And the connection goes further. Recent reporting identifies Mutz as a prominent supporter of Ballard's new Lincoln Party effort and says Mutz has contributed at least $10,000 to Ballard's campaign and another $10,000 to a PAC supporting him. (https://www.wndu.com)

So this isn't simply an old Republican statesman criticizing the manners or rhetoric of another Republican.

It is political activity occurring in 2026.

Follow the Republican Civil War

The other donations shown in the image are especially interesting because they point toward another battle inside Indiana's Republican Party.

The screenshot lists contributions associated with Greg Walker, Travis Holdman and Spencer Deery. Those names aren't random. Walker, Holdman and Deery were among Republican state senators targeted earlier this year after opposing the congressional redistricting sought by Trump and his allies. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

That makes the pattern more politically significant than simply saying Mutz gives money to Republicans.

He appears to be putting resources behind Republicans or political organizations associated with the anti-Trump or Trump-resistant side of Indiana's continuing GOP civil war, while simultaneously supporting an organization designed to elect independents.

That is his legal right. It may even be principled. But Republican voters have an equally legitimate right to ask what the word Republican means in 2026.

RINO—or an Old-School Republican Who Refuses to Move?

Mutz would almost certainly reject the RINO label, somehow... but he can sitdown and shut up, his political future and reputation is done.

His own explanation has been remarkably consistent: he believes he is defending traditional Republican principles rather than abandoning them. In his 2020 column, Mutz specifically cited limited government, private property, constitutional freedoms, national defense and the rule of law. He argued that opposing Trump was an act of conscience, not party betrayal.

(Indianapolis Business Journal)

That's the strongest case for Mutz, and HE readers should hear it.

But there is another side.

Political parties are ultimately composed of voters, not former officeholders. Republican voters nominated Trump three times. They elected him president twice. Today's GOP bears little resemblance to the party Mutz knew when Robert Orr occupied the governor's office.

At some point, declaring yourself a Republican while opposing the party's dominant national figure, voting for his Democratic opponent and financially supporting an independent political movement invites an obvious response from grassroots Republicans: If that isn't a RINO, what is?

And voters, Hoosiers Voters, have made it known they don't like RINO, politicians who are Republican In Name Only. They don't like flip-floppers.

Right, Left, Right, Left

There is also something quintessentially Indiana-establishment about the whole affair.

Mutz can write checks to Republican candidates. He can finance organizations challenging the two-party structure. He can support Republicans resisting Trump's agenda. He can vote for a Democrat for president. And through all of it, he can continue saying that he remains a proud Republican.

Right. Left. Right. Left.

Perhaps Mutz sees consistency where MAGA Republicans see contradiction. Perhaps he considers himself the keeper of an older Republican flame while today's GOP has marched away from him.

But political labels aren't hereditary titles.

John Mutz earned an important place in Indiana Republican history. His public service and accomplishments shouldn't disappear merely because Republicans disagree with him today. Yet neither should that résumé insulate his present political activity from scrutiny.

The question isn't whether John Mutz was a Republican.

Nobody seriously disputes that.

The far more interesting question for Indiana Republicans in 2026 is whether the party moved away from John Mutz—or whether John Mutz moved away from the party.

And judging from his own words, his vote for Joe Biden and where some of his political money is going today, plenty of Trump Republicans already know their answer.