Lucus Bendzsa said it felt “absolutely amazing” to vote for the first time in 2018's midterm elections.

Bendzsa, 19, of New Goshen, was a poll worker for the May primary while still a senior at West Vigo High School, and he cast his polling place's first ballot of that day, voting for Todd Rokita for U.S. Senate.

“That didn't turn out too well,” he said, alluding to Rep. Rokita's loss in the three-way Republican primary to Mike Braun. “But it all worked out beautifully.”

Bendzsa interned for Braun, who went on to defeat incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly in November's election.

“The state of Indiana showed that we don't want to be like the East Coast or the West Coast,” said Bendzsa, now a student at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; he is pursuing a double major in computer science and economics.

“We sent Donald Trump to Washington. Vigo County went very big for him and we wanted to do the same with Mike Braun,” he said. “He's a great businessman. He's going to shake up Washington.”

Bendzsa, who earned his share of A's as co-valedictorian of his high school class, gives Trump an A at the president's midterm.

“He's the most transparent president ever,” he said. “Whatever you want to know he's thinking, you know it the minute he says it.”

One of Trump's biggest accomplishments, Bendzsa said, has been moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. He also praised the president's efforts to secure the southern border and passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which he said has had a direct impact on him.

“I had very good luck finding a job this summer,” he said, already looking ahead to graduation from Rose-Hulman in 2023. “With the bolstered economy, it's going to be wonderful for me coming out of college into this wonderful economy getting a good, high-paying job, and that's what's important.”

With Democrats taking control of the House in the new Congress, Bendzsa sees hope for some issues, such as an infrastructure bill. But he thinks any action on immigration would have to come before Jan. 3, when the new Congress takes office.

“Other than that, it's just going to be a race to investigations and trying to attack the opponent by controlling the subcommittees,” he said.

Bendzsa supports Trump's trade policy, saying short-term pain resulting from an exchange of tariffs with China and other countries will pay off in the long run.

He said the administration's agreement with Canada and Mexico is “an amazing trade deal for American workers and farmers” and expects other “great negotiations” to follow.

“He's a businessman. He's a negotiator and he's looking long term,” he said.

On health care, Bendsza praised the Obama-era Affordable Care Act for its provisions allowing him to stay on his parents' policy until he's 26 and requiring coverage for pre-existing conditions, provisions he notes Trump and Braun also support.

But other provisions of the act have sent premiums “out of control,” he said. “My aunts and uncles can barely afford health care.”

Acknowledging tax cuts have resulted in higher deficits, Bendzsa said 4 percent growth in the nation's gross domestic product and low unemployment rates show they are working.

He agrees the federal budget needs significant reductions. He said those cuts should come in such areas as the National Endowment for the Arts, support for Planned Parenthood and, to some extent, the military.

Bendzsa also favors shifting more responsibilities to states.

Such a change would result in "more efficiency, less political gridlock and will get things moving in the right direction,” he said.

Bendzsa said he plans to remain active in politics and already has his eye on an at-large seat on the Vigo County Council in 2020.

Dave Taylor can be reached at 812-231-4299 or dave.taylor@tribstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @TribStarDave.

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