‘Work that’s unfinished’: Colleagues and community reflect on legacy of Sen. Jean Breaux
INDIANAPOLIS (MIRROR INDY) — It was a cold and rainy November day several years ago when Rita Davis was preparing for her organization’s fundraiser.
As the day progressed, and the rain kept falling harder, Davis braced herself for a less than ideal turnout. The annual casino night raises money for Noble, an eastside nonprofit that provides services to people with developmental disabilities.
But as people started trickling in, Sen. Jean Breaux arrived alongside her mother, Billie, who serves on Noble’s board. Although they could have easily bailed on the event due to the weather, Davis said they honored their commitment and showed up.
“That’s the kind of person Jean was,” Davis told Mirror Indy. “The world lost an incredible advocate, our community lost an incredible advocate.”
Breaux, who represented residents on Indianapolis’ east side for nearly two decades, died Wednesday, March 20, after battling an undisclosed infection. She was 65.
Family members have asked media outlets to refrain from contacting them at this time. Mirror Indy spoke with advocates, community members and fellow legislators who described Breaux as a dedicated public servant who was not afraid to dig into complicated issues and stand up to lobbyists.
“She was not one to hold her tongue,” said Rep. Robin Shackleford, an Indianapolis Democrat who worked with Breaux at the Statehouse for more than a decade. “She always read her information thoroughly and was very inquisitive. She was a legislator that would ask a ton of questions.”
‘A gentle soul, but a warrior spirit’
To many Marion County Democrats, Breaux represented a bygone era of politics — a time before social media, when people felt a more personal connection to their elected officials.
Mark Smith, who has volunteered on Democratic campaigns, spent Election Day 2022 with Breaux passing out campaign literature for Andrea Hunley, who was then an Indianapolis Public Schools principal running for State Senate.
Later that evening, Smith received a call: The party needed volunteers to count votes — could he help? He could, but he didn’t own a car. So Breaux offered him a lift.
“The times when she and I talked, I knew she cared,” said Smith, 68, who lives on the southeast side. “I’ve been thinking to myself the last couple days, you know, if us Democrats had 149 other state legislators like her, we’d be in good shape.”
In pursuing elected office, Breaux followed in the footsteps of her mother Billie Breaux, a civil rights activist and former state senator who instilled in her the importance of education and public service — lessons Billie Breaux had learned from her own mother, the wife of a coal miner in West Virginia who was denied access to a college education.
“It was all because my grandmother understood that education is the great equalizer,” Jean Breaux said in a 2021 conversation with Republican Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch.
Breaux, an only child, attended Boston University before returning to her home state to enroll at Indiana Wesleyan University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She later held positions at the Indiana Department of Commerce and several local nonprofit organizations.
When Billie Breaux was elected Marion County auditor in 2006, the Senate seat that she had held since 1990 became vacant. Because it was in the middle of a term, her replacement would be selected at a Democratic caucus.
“This proved to be a turning point for my candidacy,” Jean Breaux recalled in a 2020 interview with Indy Maven. She won the caucus and was reelected to the seat four times.
During her time as state senator, she had a lasting impact on her peers, who saw a meticulous colleague who pored over any document that came across her desk.
“If we had a letter or something that was going to go out for the (Indiana Black Legislative) Caucus when I was chair … she always wanted those items to be perfection,” recalled Rep. Cherrish Pryor, an Indianapolis Democrat who worked with Breaux for more than 15 years.
Denise Herd, a public relations consultant whose business was in Breaux’s district before redistricting, was struck by Breaux’s passion for those whose voices were often ignored.
“She’s a gentle soul, but a warrior spirit that you would want to take into battle with you,” Herd said.
In an era of partisanship and occasional vitriol, Breaux maintained good relationships with her Republican colleagues.
“Even if you were on a different side of her,” said Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, “you couldn’t get upset at her because she was so compassionate about the subjects she cared about for her constituents.”
In addition to partnering on legislation calling for equal pay for women and pregnancy accommodations in the workplace, the two hosted annual Mardi Gras parties. Alting was the king. Breaux, too, held a royal title.
“When she passed,” Alting said, “I got an email from a lobbyist who said, ‘Our queen has died.’ I knew exactly who he was talking about.”
Legislative achievements
Although Breaux spent most of her time as a lawmaker under the shadow of the Republican supermajority — a reality that made advancing her and her party’s agenda significantly more difficult — she continued to push for changes that she believed would improve the lives of some of the state’s most vulnerable residents.
Indiana consistently ranks at the bottom of several public health measures, so Breaux sought, albeit unsuccessfully, to expand Medicaid coverage to include dialysis for undocumented immigrants and addiction treatment for pregnant women, and to increase lead testing for children on Medicaid.
The state has high rates of infant and maternal mortality, especially among Black Hoosiers. So in 2019, Breaux successfully pushed for Medicaid coverage of doula services.
From the onset of the pandemic, she became an outspoken advocate for transparency around the number of cases and deaths from the virus in the state’s nursing homes. As COVID-19 disproportionately affected communities of color, Breaux called for (and later served on) a study committee to examine racial disparities in the state’s health system.
And when the Republican supermajority moved to create a near-total abortion ban, Breaux joined her fellow Democrats in opposing a law she said would “do real harm to women, their families and healthcare providers in our state.”
She also went a step further, calling on lawmakers to improve access to birth control, expand financial support for families and require employers to offer pregnancy accommodations in the workplace.
[New Eskenazi Health campus in Breaux’s district to serve all patients. No exceptions.]
“She loved being a legislator because she realized that she could help and was helping so many people and that’s why it was so important to her that she vocalize the positions and the issues each and every time she had the opportunity,” Rep. Pryor said.
As a longtime member of the Senate Utilities Committee, Breaux was not afraid to dig into complex laws about utilities, according to Kerwin Olson, a consumer advocate for the Citizens Action Coalition.
“She was intellectually curious, interested in making progress, interested in understanding the issues,” Olson told Mirror Indy, “and cared deeply about her constituents and their quality of life.”
Breaux challenged lobbyists and interest groups in order to get to the bottom of who would benefit from proposed legislation, said Sen. Andrea Hunley, an Indianapolis Democrat who served alongside Breaux on the committee.
She recalled Breaux’s tact in meetings with lobbyists.
“She would be like, ‘Well, we need to ask them questions about what this is really going to do, and are they really telling us the truth?’” Hunley said. “And then you get into the committee hearing, and she doubles down and asks the same tough questions or calls them out and says, ‘You know, this isn’t what you told me when we were talking.’”
In August, Breaux appeared at the Central Library branch of the Indianapolis Public Library to testify at a public hearing against a proposal to raise the monthly cost of electric bills in Indianapolis.
“I just have to ask: When will it stop, and when will it be enough?” Breaux said at the hearing. “I would certainly like to just ask you to reconsider that, to really take a look at what the impact will be of the decisions that you make.”
Passing the torch
Aside from her work as a lawmaker, Breaux’s colleagues will remember her for the moments they shared far from the Statehouse, such as the long car rides traveling across the state for their work as part of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus.
“Jean was a hoot. We would talk the whole way there, the whole way back,” Rep. Shackleford said. “I loved traveling with her … She was a fun companion, a fun person to be on a long road trip with.”
To some of her fellow legislators, Breaux was a sister. To others, a mentor.
“I always tease her, several of us tease Jean, that she’s not Mrs. (Billie) Breaux’s only daughter,” Rep. Pryor said. “There are several of us that get that title. But it took a lot of work to get there. Because Jean was very protective of her mom.”
Breaux unknowingly became a mentor to Hunley, who had hoped to take Breaux’s place when she was ready to retire from the Senate. But when lawmakers redrew the legislative districts in 2021 Hunley’s home was suddenly in another district. In 2022, they became colleagues instead.
As a freshman senator, Hunley recalled the way Breaux would both take her under her wing and push her out of the nest. She recalled talking to Breaux on her way to one of her first meetings as a new senator.
“She’s like, ‘When we get to this first meeting, you are not allowed to sit next to me,’” Hunley said. “‘It’s important that you establish yourself as an individual and not as someone who is in my shadow.’”
For the last year, Breaux and Hunley served as the only Black women in the Senate. Now, there is only one.
“That is something I am going to have a really hard time with, being the ‘only’ in a space,” Hunley said, holding back tears.
It’s unclear when Breaux fell ill. She introduced a handful of bills but missed most of this year’s legislative session. She filed for reelection at the end of January. On Feb. 16, her office released a statement that said she was facing challenges from an infection she contracted over the holidays. In the statement, she said her spirit remained “strong and determined,” and she was optimistic about her recovery. Weeks later, her office sent what appeared to be a farewell message.
“After a hard-fought battle with my health, the time has come for me to focus on enjoying the time I have left surrounded by my loved ones,” Breaux said in the March 18 statement. “I want to express my sincerest gratitude to everyone who has reached out, to my Statehouse colleagues and team, and to the community I have been so incredibly grateful to represent for nearly two decades.”
She died two days later.
Just days before, Hunley said Breaux remained in good spirits — and focused on continuing her legacy.
“She has work that’s unfinished,” Hunley said.
Memorial services
Breaux will be memorialized from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, April 5, at the Statehouse. A celebration of life will be held the following day at Mount Carmel Baptist Church, with viewing hours beginning at 9 a.m. and a service at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the National Kidney Foundation.
Mirror Indy reporter Emily Hopkins uses data to write stories about people. Contact them at 317-790-5268 or emily.hopkins@mirrorindy.org. Follow them on most social media @indyemapolis.
Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.