Tim Berry, Indiana’s new GOP chairman, was in Syracuse Thursday for the fourth annual Spine Award banquet hosted by Indiana Rep. Rebecca Kubacki (R-Syracuse).

Prior to the evening’s events, at which U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Walorski was presented with the Spine Award (see story), Berry met briefly with the media to talk about his new role, the accomplishment of Indiana government, and why he thinks the Republican party can achieve a Republican president in 2016.

Berry said, “We’re very lucky in Indiana. We have a very young congressional delegation, but a very aggressive delegation that is obtaining greater leadership that we’ve seen in recent times. And Jackie Walorski is right there at the top of the list.”

He explained that Indiana Republicans have 7 of 9 congressional seats and a Republican governor. “What more could you ask for? During this session, we’ve had the largest tax cut in Indiana history, a reduction in income tax and corporate taxes and a total elimination of inheritance tax. At the same time we balanced our budget,” he said.Berry also explained that the expectations America had with President Obama may now help the Republican party gain a Republican president in 2016. Berry explained, “The President proposed job growth and proposed change we could believe in and, quite frankly, we haven’t realized that and we haven’t seen that. The President’s inability to act quite frankly is an opportunity for us to reach out to minority voters who were first attracted to President Obama in 2008 and bring them in to our column in the 2014 and 2016 elections.”