Falsified resume has ex-officials ‘shocked’
Campaign workers for Bohm say they were unaware of information
Democrat Luke Bohm’s former campaign manager and treasurer issued a joint statement Thursday saying they were “shocked and saddened” that Bohm, who ran against Republican Ed Charbonneau for an Indiana Senate seat last year, lied about his education and work history.
James Schooley and Douglas Burbank, former campaign manager and treasurer, respectively, said they didn’t “have any knowledge of the false nature of his credentials or reason to question their validity” until stories appeared in the Indiana politics newsletter Importantville, written by Adam Wren, and later in the Post-Tribune.
“To the best of our knowledge, no vendors or consultants the campaign worked with were aware the credentials were falsified,” Schooley and Burbank said.
Bohm, 26, of Valparaiso, ran unsuccessfully against Charbonneau for the District 5 seat in the Indiana Senate in November. After a vote of precinct committee members last month, Bohm was selected to lead the Valparaiso Democratic Committee. He
has since submitted his resignation from that post at the behest of Drew Wenger, chair of the Porter County Democratic Party and recent past chair of the VDC.
Trish Whitcomb, a candidate for chair of the state Democratic Party, also selected Bohm as state vice chair candidate March 12, though she announced Monday that she was withdrawing her candidacy because of the unexpected death of her son. Bohm withdrew as well.
Additionally, Kaleb Hagen, Bohm’s partner and co-founder for the political consulting firm TBH Strategies, LLC, announced that Bohm has stepped down as a partner there.
“When we set out to create TBH Strategies, we did so with the popular phrase ‘To be Honest’ heavily in mind. We have strived every day to live by that motto and bring about meaningful and effective change to the areas we work in. It is disheartening to now learn that one of our founders was less than truthful to both party officials and media outlets,” Hagen said in a statement. He said he was unaware of Bohm “falsifying portions of his professional and educational resume.”
On Sunday, Importantville raised questions about Bohm’s claims of extensive political experience in his professional biography on the website for TBH Strategies, where he is partner and co-founder. The biography has been removed from the site.
In an October Post-Tribune story on Bohm’s bid for state senate, Bohm said he was a St. John native who lived on the East Coast before returning to the area and moving to Valparaiso two years ago. He said at the time that he owned a small business in St. John and earned a bachelor’s degree at Campbell University before getting a master’s degree in political science at Princeton University.
Bohm told Importantville he didn’t receive a degree from either university and did not know how the error came about, and told the newsletter he earned a master’s degree from Grand Canyon University and an associate degree from Columbia Southern University, though he did try to attend Princeton.
He told Importantville he directed his campaign manager to contact the Chicago Tribune, which owns the Post-Tribune, for a correction. The paper never received a correction.
Schooley and Burbank said they were drawn to Bohm’s race for Senate with the goal of reaching out to underrepresented people in District 5 and similar districts and offered their efforts and enthusiasm in the hopes of affecting positive change for the state.
While they were personally disappointed to hear the news about Bohm, the two said “our larger concern is for the Hoosiers who were denied the trustworthy and honest candidate that was promised during the campaign.”
They added that they were disappointed for local Democrats who offered their time and support for the campaign and will be working with the local party about any next steps where they can be of assistance.
“We hope any future contributions will lead to the positive changes we had hoped to build through our efforts during 2020,” they said.