INDIANAPOLIS — Republican Mike Braun, DemocratJennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater have different ideas on how Indiana should move forward as a state.
Each candidate was asked the same questions. Some gave us a time limit, others didn’t.
Education is always a hot topic at the statehouse. Rainwater and Braun want to see an expansion of school choice.
"I don't think you can have too many choices and options,” Braun, the Republican Candidate for Governor, said. “You can never have too much choice, too much competition, or too much transparency. If you are railing against them, you are probably trying to hide something that you know is not up to snuff."
WATCH | Indiana Gubernatorial Candidate Mike Braun's full interview with WRTV
"My plan is to try and give education back to the parents, the teachers, and the children and get it out of 200 West Washington Street,” Rainwater, the Libertarian Candidate for Governor, said.
McCormick has an expansive educational background and says she does not support Indiana's definition of school choice. That being said, she supports families’ decisions on how and where they want to educate their kids. She says Indiana's school choice system isn't working.
"The data shows us that academic performance is not being reflective of the amount of money put into it,” McCormick, the Democratic Candidate for Governor, said. “Right now, $1.6 billion is going away from traditional public schools where 90% of our kids attend into a very small percentage of our kids, and the program is just not showing results."
WATCH | Indiana Gubernatorial Candidate Jennifer McCormick's full interview with WRTV
Families of children with complex medical issues and seniors are impactedby budget issues related to the family and social services administration. All three candidates plan to address FSSA.
“Healthcare is what I have spent a lot of time and we are going to figure that out,” Braun said. “I am going to find out who is doing well and who isn't within the agencies and then get a plan to make sure they are running better, simple as that."
Rainwater says the issue is funding. He would like to see more state dollars focused on helping Hoosiers rather than corporations.
"I think that we need to be serving our citizens before we are giving the Indiana Economic Development Corporation $600 million of new funding or more to go out and bring new corporations to Indiana,” Rainwater said.
WATCH | Indiana Gubernatorial Candidate Donald Rainwater full interview
McCormick says the state needs to look at caregiver regulations and prioritize helping the state’s most vulnerable.
"How can we look at that federal matching grant to say where do we have some wiggle room to self-correct,” McCormick said. “So, it goes back to doing a deep dive to look at all the angles that we can to make sure Hoosiers get what they deserve."
Each candidate has also broken down their property tax plans. You can find an article dedicated to that topic by clicking here.
