Meet Wesley Haffenden
My Story
I was raised in Northeast Indiana with a simple understanding of what community means: you treat people with respect, you work hard, and you look out for your neighbors.
My dad bought his first home on a single income before he married my mom, something that is out of reach for a lot of Hoosier families today.
They knew each other from childhood and they found each other again as adults.
Together they raised seven kids (most of our friends called them mom and dad too).
My dad worked as a factory worker and then as a sales manager.
My mom was a nurse and homemaker.
We weren’t rich, but we had enough.
It was a good childhood. And I’m proud of where I come from.
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In 2007, my dad lost his job during the housing crisis.
Like a lot of Hoosier families, we went from getting by to struggling to pay the bills.
My parents had been doing everything they could to shield us, but the reality was unavoidable.
My family relied on the free and reduced lunch program, food banks, and Hoosier Healthwise to get through that time.
I’ve seen what stability looks like, and I’ve seen how quickly it can disappear.
Finding My Voice
I grew up in a church that taught me core values: feed the hungry, care for the sick, welcome the stranger, and love your neighbor.
It also was a place where I wasn’t sure I belonged.
Sermons about love didn’t include people like me.
At school and in church, I was taught to feel like I was different.
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I went to college, my world expanded.
I met people from different backgrounds, beliefs, and identities, and I realized something simple but powerful. The values I was raised on, dignity, compassion, and love for your neighbor, are not limited to one group of people.
They belong to all of us and our differences… are beautiful.
That realization changed me.
I came out.
I found community.
I found a new congregation that reflects the values I was raised on, compassion, service, loving your neighbor, and a place where I belong.
I ran for Student Body Vice President in college as my authentic self and won.
I co-created the first Pride march in Fort Wayne and started building a more inclusive version of the place I call home.
Why I Came Back
In 2015, I moved to Florida for a career opportunity.
I started working on building some financial stability for myself.
I was the first in my family to earn a Bachelor’s degree, where I studied Economics.
I wanted to understand why so many people work hard and still struggle.
I pushed further and earned my MBA.
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In the six years I was gone, everything changed.
My mom was diagnosed with multiple forms of cancer.
I started flying back and forth, watching her fight with everything she had.
I saw the system up close.
The bills didn’t stop. The stress didn’t stop.
Even in the middle of a life-or-death fight, the system never stopped asking:
What can they afford to pay? That’s not healthcare. That’s profit.
No family should have to fight cancer and the cost of care at the same time.
That’s when it clicked for me: this isn’t broken by accident, it’s built this way.
We can do better.
I came back to be closer to my family.
I came back to build my life here.
Indiana is home.
What I See Today
As a real estate broker with nearly a decade of experience, I help people navigate one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.
Most of the people I work with are not investors or developers. They are working people. Teachers, nurses, factory workers, young families, and retirees trying to figure out if they can afford to stay in the communities they love.
The conversations I have every day are not about politics. They are about grocery bills, childcare, healthcare, and whether hard work is still enough to build a stable life.
Too often, it is not.
I see the pressure families are under. I see who gets prioritized, and I see who gets left behind.
I also see our current leadership in Indianapolis using our neighbors as political tools of distraction and division.
While we are fighting each other, they are selling our state out to the same corporations funding their campaigns.
What I Believe
I believe in dignity.
Every person deserves respect, opportunity, and the ability to build a stable life.
I believe in accountability.
Government should answer to the people, not lobbyists or special interests.
I believe in freedom.
The freedom to build a life, make your own choices, and be treated fairly under the law.
That means safe and affordable housing, healthcare that prioritizes people over profit, wages that reflect the value of hard work, and modern policies that reflect the reality people are living in today.
Why I’m Running
For most of my life, I never imagined running for office.
But after years of watching families struggle while politicians focus on division and distractions, I realized something simple. Waiting for someone else to step up is not good enough.
I have lived the consequences of decisions made by people who never had to worry about how those decisions would affect families like mine.
I’ve seen how quickly stability can disappear. I’ve seen how systems fail working people. And I’ve seen how strong our communities can be when we actually look out for each other.
That is what Hoosier hospitality is supposed to mean.
I am committed to treating people with dignity, solving problems together, and building something better for the next generation.
A Little About Me
I’m a partner to my fiancé, Ken, a son, a brother, and an uncle.
Northeast Indiana is home. It’s where my family lives, where I’ve built my career, and where I’m committed to building a future.
This campaign is not about left or right. It’s about whether everyday Hoosiers still have a voice in their own government.
I’m running to build a future where hard work leads to opportunity and no one gets left behind.
If you believe we should be lifting people up instead of tearing each other down, join this campaign.
— Wesley
Wesley is a seventh-generation Hoosier, local real estate broker, and community advocate.
He was raised in rural Northeast Indiana, where he was taught that Hoosier Hospitality means treating people with dignity, working hard, and looking out for your neighbors.
With nearly a decade of helping families buy homes and build stability, he has witnessed firsthand the pressures facing working people, from rising housing costs to stagnant wages.