JASPER — The gubernatorial candidates took many jabs at each other during Tuesday night’s debate at the Jasper Arts Center in Jasper.
Republican incumbent Mitch Daniels and challengers Democrat Jill Long Thompson and Libertarian Andy Horning weren’t allowed to go back and forth with each other directly. Each candidate had 90 seconds to answer a question submitted by a voter and 45 seconds for a rebuttal. As the hourlong debate neared the end, the response time was cut to a minute, with no time for rebuttal.
But even in that format, the candidates managed to chastise one another, with Daniels and Long Thompson chastising each other and Horning chastising them.
“You’ve represented your parties well,” Horning said in his closing statement. He also addressed the audience in his last comments, saying, “You know what they represent. Why do you keep voting for that?”
More than 600 people attended the debate. No campaign materials were allowed inside and the audience was instructed to remain quiet during the discussion, which aired live on television and radio stations. The signs and displays outside the arts center were evidence that supporters of Daniels and Long Thompson were out in force and proud of their candidate.
The trio addressed seven questions that were vetted by the Indiana Debate Commission, sponsor of the debate. Moderator Jo Ann M. Gora, president of Ball State University, kept the debate moving, at times starting to cut off a candidate to move on to the next candidate.
Gentryville resident Paul Higgs started the debate by asking if the candidates favor removing the sales tax on heating oils. Long Thompson said she does and took time to also mention her call to Daniels to suspend the sales tax on gasoline.
“Hoosier families need a break,” she said.
Daniels, who doesn’t support the idea, explained during his time that the governor does not have the authority to suspend the tax on gas. Horning said he would support consolidating the sales taxes but not eliminating them.
Most of the bickering was between Daniels and Long Thompson. When Andy Mahler, a community organizer from Paoli, asked about the candidates’ stances on protecting forests, Long Thompson tied the issue to the economy and, thus, jobs.
“We have lost 64,000 jobs,” she said. “We are losing jobs at a faster rate than any other state.”
“No, we aren’t losing job at a faster rate,” Daniels said during his rebuttal. “We’re gaining jobs.”
“We have more unemployed people this week than last week,” Long Thompson said in her rebuttal, “when we had our last debate.”
Horning noted the bickering in the final rebuttal for the question.
“We got off the topic of logging a bit,” he said.
Many times the candidates, including Horning, got off the topic, despite Gora’s reminder of the question’s subject. Horning tied several of the topics — education, township government, health care — to political parties, stating that government would run more smoothly if it got rid of politicians.
The debate was hosted by Vincennes University Jasper Campus and the City of Jasper. It was the second of three debates being held by the debate commission. The final debate will be Oct. 14 in Bloomington.
By CANDY NEAL
Herald Staff Writer
Jasper, IN
Contact Candy Neal at cneal@dcherald.com.
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