Beckwith sought the Republican Party's nomination for in the
2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana. He finished in third place with 12.7% of the vote, losing to
Victoria Spartz by 25%. The
Hamilton County Council appointed Beckwith to a vacant seat on the Hamilton East Public Library board of trustees on September 7, 2022. Beckwith's appointment attracted local controversy due to his stated views on
LGBTQ issues, and his belief that public school students were being taught "gay" and "oral sex" and being "indoctrinated with Marxist ideology." In comments to
The Indianapolis Star, Beckwith denied charges that he had an "agenda to censor books." During his tenure, Beckwith supported revisions to the library's collection development policy that barred materials containing "depictions of sex, violence and repeated profanity" from being shelved in the library's
young adult section. Nearly 2,000 titles were relocated as a result of the policy. The board suspended the new policy in August 2023 following public backlash that attracted national press attention and criticism from local authors such as
John Green. The board subsequently voted to repeal the new policy in December 2023 following the resignation of several conservative board members. Beckwith resigned from the board of trustees in January 2024 in order to pursue his candidacy for lieutenant governor. Beckwith faced
Julie McGuire for the nomination, and won with 891 votes against McGuire's 828. He won the election on a ticket with
U.S. senator Mike Braun, defeating the
Democratic Party nominees
Jennifer McCormick and
Terry Goodin. During the gubernatorial campaign, Beckwith said that McCormick's campaign and its support of
abortion rights and
gender-affirming care represented "boldness for immorality" and the "
Jezebel spirit", and additionally referred to
pro-choice Hoosiers as "demonic". In response, the
Indiana Democratic Party called the Braun-Beckwith ticket a "woman hating campaign". Beckwith later said that his comparison of the Indiana Democratic ticket to the Jezebel spirit had "nothing to do with being a woman or not." In November 2024, Beckwith addressed a story posted in
Indiana University's student newspaper, the
Indiana Daily Student, in
a post on X. The front-page story featured
president-elect
Donald Trump and critical remarks made about him by former members of
his cabinet. He called the
IDS story "
WOKE propaganda" and wrote that "[t]his type of elitist leftist propaganda needs to stop or we will be happy to stop it for them." In an email to local
NBC News affiliate
WTHR, Beckwith said he would ensure the
IDS "receives no taxpayer support directly or indirectly", though the newspaper's co-editor in chief noted that it receives no taxpayer funds. In a follow-up interview with the
IDS, Beckwith stated he would protect the newspaper's
free speech rights if he felt the stories run by the paper were "fair". In April 2025, Democrats in the
Indiana Senate argued against Indiana Senate Bill 289, an anti-
DEI measure, comparing it to the
Three-fifths Compromise. Beckwith responded to the argument by defending the Three-fifths Compromise, calling it "a great move" and saying that the policy "helped to root out
slavery". His comments were condemned by the
Alliance of Baptists, the Concerned Clergy of
Indianapolis, and the Indiana chapter of the
National Action Network in a joint statement that called Beckwith's interpretation of the compromise "
historical revisionism". Beckwith defended his comments in an interview several days later, stating "I said exactly what needed to be said." Governor Mike Braun was critical of Beckwith's remarks, saying he "definitely wouldn't have used that characterization", and
Indiana state representative Earl Harris Jr. called Beckwith's statements "a gross misunderstanding of history" and "purposeful
whitewashing of [history] for political gain". In September 2025, Beckwith, faced backlash from conservative circles after posting on social media about his meeting with Haitian pastors regarding faith and family. In the post, he noted that over 40,000 Haitians were seeking asylum in Indiana, praised their determination to work hard, and encouraged assimilation into the American way of life. Conservative commentators accused him of advocating for mass Haitian migration, he clarified by emphasizing that any Haitians who come must do so legally, learn English, and assimilate. Beckwith said on
WOWO, that he has not "flip-flopped" referring to his stance on immigration. In 2024, he described Haitian resettlement in
Logansport as a burden on public services, such as schools and hospitals, and emergency response agencies were being stretched thin by “people who should not be here.” He blamed the amount of Haitians in Indiana on then-
President Joe Biden extending their
temporary protected status. Beckwith subsequently deleted the original post and attributed the backlash to misinterpretation of his message. In October 2025, Beckwith's office became the subject of a Marion County grand jury investigation into allegations of
ghost employment and the distribution of an intimate image. The investigation included testimony regarding a
deepfake AI-generated video allegedly depicting the topless image of a Republican lawmaker's wife, which was reportedly shown within Beckwith's office. It is reported that two staff members saw the video in April 2025, though Beckwith denied any internal viewing or production of such content. No charges have been filed, and Beckwith's office stated it had no knowledge of the grand jury proceedings due to confidentiality laws. ==Political positions==