By Jessica Karins
INDIANAPOLIS — Though many voters around the state have already cast their ballots, anyone who is still undecided will have a chance to hear from the three candidates for Indiana governor tonight (Oct. 20).
The first of two debates between incumbent Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and his two challengers, Democrat Woody Myers and Libertarian Donald Rainwater, will take place at 7 p.m. Due to COVID-19 safety precautions, the candidates will debate in a television studio at WFYI in downtown Indianapolis with no public audience and limited press. The event will be available to watch online at youtu.be/WZ1Y3YVkpmE and on the debate commission’s website, www.indianadebatecommission.com. Television stations also are expected to carry the debate.
The candidates are expected to present three very different views of what Indiana’s COVID-19 response, and state government in general, should look like. Holcomb’s executive orders have guided much of the state’s policies through the COVID-19 pandemic, and he recently announced an extension of his mask mandate and Stage 5 of the state’s reopening plan. Myers has criticized his administration for not doing enough, while Rainwater has criticized it for doing too much.
The moderator of the debate will be Andrew Downs, associate professor of political science at Purdue University Fort Wayne and director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics.
A second debate will take place a week later on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
For the Indiana governor’s race, as in many races nationwide, mask-wearing and COVID-19 safety have become political issues. Holcomb has sometimes been at odds with members of his own party since issuing a statewide lockdown order in March.
That has helped attract supporters to Rainwater. Among other Libertarian policies like eliminating personal income tax, Rainwater has argued that Holcomb should never have instituted a stay-at-home order, and should simply have offered expert guidance while letting businesses and individuals make up their own minds.
“I don’t believe that it’s the government’s responsibility or authority to tell people who has to stay home, whose businesses have to close, whose businesses have to remain open, or that churches have to close,” Rainwater said in an interview with the Daily Reporter.
Rainwater made a campaign stop in Greenfield on Sunday, Oct. 18.
Asked during his news briefing last week about political rallies held without mandatory mask-wearing, Holcomb declined to get into political issues and instead discussed mask-optional events generally.
“Absolutely, people ought to be able to have events,” Holcomb said, but he added that it is clear through contact tracing that without proper social distancing and personal protective equipment, such events can lead to infections even when it would be possible to hold them responsibly.
Some local Republican officials have been unhappy with Holcomb’s handling of the pandemic, including the Hancock County Commissioners. Earlier this year, all three commissioners signed a letter sent to Holcomb’s office criticizing the introduction of a mask mandate and saying such decisions should be made on a local level. Holcomb did not respond.
“I’m happy he extended Stage 5, but the mask thing, it’s proven that it’s not going to fix anything when his health director gets it and she’s probably being more careful than anyone,” County Commissioner Marc Huber said, referring to Dr. Kristina Box, the state health commissioner, who announced last week she had tested positive for COVID-19.
Huber said he and the other commissioners have talked with officials at Hancock Regional Hospital and the county health department, and that ventilator capacity in the county — a key measure of readiness for a spike in infections — remains good.
“I believe the curve’s been flattened, but that could change,” he said.
Keely Butrum, a Republican who is running unopposed for a spot on the county council, said she attended the Rainwater rally to ask for the candidate’s thoughts on whether a special legislative session should have been called this year to address COVID-19 issues.
“Mike Crider and Bob Cherry represent us at the state level (in the state Senate and House), and if I don’t like their approach on an issue they are completely accessible,” Butrum said. “I can call them, email them, find them at a Chamber luncheon. Finding out Mike Crider and Bob Cherry won’t be called in to speak for us when the state has to make its biggest decisions in history is shocking. Who knew that was possible?”
Democrat Myers, a physician who has served as the health commissioner of both Indiana and New York City, said the country in general is not doing enough to prevent the spread of the virus and that political events can be particularly risky.
“It’s been highlighted, of course, by the failure of the White House to protect the president,” he said, alluding to Trump’s recent battle with COVID-19.
Myers has held a limited number of in-person events during his campaign, most of them outdoors with mandatory masks and limited attendance. Most of his events, however, have moved online, which he said presents an additional obstacle to fundraising.
“Fundraising is always a challenge when you’re going up against an incumbent,” Myers said.
Myers said he believes infections in Indiana will continue to rise unless something changes, especially once seasonal flu begins to spread in earnest. If he were elected, he said he would attempt to offer both the “carrot” of properly explaining the benefits of wearing masks and the “stick” of punishment, like fines, for those refusing to follow health policies.
“If we can stop people from smoking indoors and make people wear a seat belt, why can’t we do the same with masks?” Myers said.
Myers said he hopes to address those issues and more at the debate. Myers added that he had asked the Indiana Debate Commission to require negative COVID-19 tests from each candidate before the debate. Holcomb, after learning Box had tested positive, also sought a test last week. It was negative.
“The commission, an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization, has advised campaigns that it cannot mandate COVID-19 testing of the candidates. That decision remains solely with individual candidates and their campaigns. As planned, all other CDC guidelines will be followed — which was part of the original signed agreement with candidates,” a spokesperson for the commission said in an email Monday.
