Candidates spar in first general election gubernatorial debate • Indiana Capital Chronicle

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Two of Indiana’s three gubernatorial candidates spent an hour Wednesday night trading barbs and promoting their campaign platforms during the first televised debate of the general election, hosted by Fox59 and CBS4.

Republican Mike Braun and Democrat Jennifer McCormick each met the polling threshold set by the networks for the gubernatorial debate. A third candidate, Libertarian Donald Rainwater, did not meet that standard but will appear on stage for Thursday’s gubernatorial debate with WISH-TV.

Topics included a recently manipulated ad from the Braun campaign and the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor who spoke the other way evoked a “Jezebel spirit.”.”

The behavior of Braun’s running mate, self-described Christian nationalist Micah Beckwith, prompted the most heated back-and-forth between the nominees, with McCormick repeatedly calling for an apology from the campaign.

“It’s ridiculous. He is dangerous,” she said of Beckwith.

Braun fired back by saying, “WFocusing on a lieutenant governor means you are uncertain about what your own plans will be. “It’s clear that in this state, a governor is going to be in control … if you focus on that, it means you’re afraid you don’t have enough to offer Hoosiers (and) to address the kitchen table problems.”

But McCormick said she is not afraid to lead.

“But I also know, and I am crystal clear, that it is about character. We need someone at the top who will represent us well at the national level, and who will also have a running mate who will serve us well.”

Braun repeatedly tied McCormick to national Democratic policies, although she has never held an elected position as a Democrat. McCormick, meanwhile, pointed to Indiana’s poor quality of life and education outcomes under the last two decades of Republican control and called for a change in leadership.

Highlights of the governor’s debate

Both candidates have released detailed plans outlining their priorities if elected governor, addressing issues such as property taxes, education and economic development.

Moderators specifically asked about ballot initiatives, which have been used in other states to enshrine access to reproductive health care. Braun said he was open to such an effort if it gained momentum, but reaffirmed his anti-abortion stance.

GOP U.S. Sen. Mike Braun explains why he should be the next governor in a debate on Oct. 2, 2024. (Photo courtesy of WXIN)

“We have the right to life,” Braun said, expressing support for the state’s near-total abortion ban. “It is a bill that sanctifies life, we are a state that does that, with reasonable exceptions. And I think the people have spoken, the Legislature has listened, and we’ve gotten a bill that seems to be working.”

Imposing that ban was a key part of McCormick’s campaign and she claimed that women have already died as a result of the ban. She said she would “absolutely” support an attempt at ballot questions.

“I’m the only person on stage who has been pregnant; I am the only person on this stage who has given birth… and I understand firsthand the complexities that come with pregnancy,” McCormick said. “I know my opponent said that… he thought we had it right. And when you make comments like that, we are putting the lives of many women at risk.”

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McCormick, an educator and the state’s last elected superintendent of public instruction, called for increasing teacher salaries to $60,000. He said, “If we can’t get education right, we can’t get the economy right.”

“We have to pay our teachers the same as their non-teaching colleagues or we will never attract them,” McCormick said. “When I was in office, Indiana was ranked 35th in the country. Since I left we have fallen to 41st place. So we are going in the wrong direction.”

Braun reiterated his call to expand school choice — Indiana currently offers vouchers to nearly all Hoosier families, something McCormick would “pause” to increase teacher salaries — and criticized spending at the district level.

“If you look at what we invest in a classroom – building, utilities, maintenance, upkeep – including teacher compensation, it’s about $245,000 per classroom… you put so much into buildings and maintenance and upkeep, and you don’t get the The most important thing is getting it right, which is teacher pay and benefits,” said Braun, a former school board member. “For me, $60,000 is far too modest.”

Salary increases would be paid for by finding ways to run classrooms more efficiently and not sink money into buildings or operations, he said.

McCormick reiterated her call for Indiana to start its own marijuana legalization process, first medically followed by recreationally, while Braun said he was open to legalizing the drug for medical purposes. However, he cautioned that he would weigh concerns about law enforcement heavily.

National topics

Governmental debate moderators also asked questions related to national politics, including border security and the growth of Medicaid.

Braun said the immigration plan from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the latter of whom is on the Democratic ticket for president, was intended to “open the borders,” allowing fentanyl and cartels to enter.

“…now all states are border states and we have to endure the complications of that,” Braun said.

McCormick, meanwhile, pointed out Braun’s “no” vote on a bipartisan border funding bill that would have hired more patrol officers and accused Braun of “playing politics” to get the measure failed.

Democrat Jennifer McCormick says Hoosiers should choose her as Indiana’s next governor during a debate on Oct. 2, 2024. (Photo courtesy of WXIN)

Braun said it would have allowed too many border crossings, although Biden took executive action to impose restrictions that would have been included in the bill and border crossings disappeared.

Nationally, Medicaid costs are growing alongside general health care costs.

In Indiana, growth in demand for certain services led to a $1 billion shortage and the end of salaries for parents in care, as well as a waiting list for services for both disabled and elderly Hoosiers. Even more recently, a whistleblowing case accused hospitals and insurers of $700 million in fraud.

“I’ve had many families on the phone who are quite upset because their children or adults are not receiving services that they not only need but deserve,” McCormick said. “A third of Indiana is on Medicaid, that’s huge… because I was in charge of a state agency that had more than half the state budget… I would have had some answers if I had been in a deficit or to that extent had embezzled money.”

McCormick slightly overestimated the number of Hoosiers on Medicaid, which is closer to one in four Hoosiers after an effort to eliminate federal protections under COVID-19.

Braun called the system “generally broken because it ends up costing too much.”

The federal government pays roughly two-thirds of Medicaid costs for most programs and up to 90% of costs for middle-income Hoosiers in the growing population.

“…ensuring that we can pay our share of (Medicaid) requires someone who has taken on health care in the past. Just because you ran an agency doesn’t mean you can translate that,” Braun said, referring to his work in health care at the federal level. “Our own state must embrace transparency and competition to ensure our health care costs are lower.”

In response, McCormick said better education would lead to higher wages, solving the problem.

The deadline for Hoosiers to register to vote is October 7. Voter registration status can be checked online at indianavoters.in.gov.

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