Gubernatorial candidates appear together before Columbus businesses

by Whitney Downard, Indiana Capital Chronicle
December 8, 2023

Gubernatorial candidates from both the Republican and Libertarian parties pitched their campaigns to business leaders at a forum in Columbus Friday, selling their platform to the gathered crowd during the annual meeting for the local economic development corporation. 

The six candidates did not debate against one another, instead individually introducing themselves and responding to four questions from moderator and longtime journalist Gerry Dick.

Participating candidates included five Republicans — U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, former Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden and former Attorney General Curtis Hill — as well as Libertarian candidate Donald Rainwater. 

An event brochure introducing the six candidates noted that all “substantive candidates” had received an invite, including Democrat frontrunner Jennifer McCormick, “whose campaign declined due to a schedule conflict.”

Role of READI, LEAP

As expected due to the nature of the event, questions focused on economic policies for the candidates and what choices they’d make as governor to help areas like Columbus prosper. 

Hill painted himself as someone who would defend personal liberties while both Braun and Chambers highlighted their entrepreneurial background as founders of their respective businesses. Crouch continued to push her plan to “ax” the state income tax and Doden promoted the ability to revitalize smaller communities like Columbus and his Fort Wayne hometown. 

Holcomb defends LEAP pipeline, prepares for last legislative session

Rainwater called for shrinking the size of the state government, similar to his 2020 candidacy which won him an historic 11.4% in the general election as a third-party candidate. He repeatedly decried state-led efforts like the LEAP district in Boone County and the READI program, which devoted $1 billion in federal and state funds to local quality of life efforts. 

“I think the role of the governor should be to keep government out of your way, to reduce the regulatory burden on local economic development efforts,” Rainwater said. “They took that (money) out of your paycheck, out of your pocket and now they create a program and they say, ‘We have this and we’re going to get some of you to compete for it if you’ll do what we want you to do.’

“I think that’s inherently and ethically wrong. We’ve got to get rid of this idea that big government is going to fix things.”

Chambers also called for a smaller government but said it could only come with better economic development investments.

“When people are secure and prosperous, government can be smaller,” Chambers said. “When you grow the economy, you can use that (growth) to fix education and fix crime.”

In terms of the READI program, both Braun and Doden compared the initiative to similar plans they’d overseen: Braun with Community Crossings and Doden with Regional Cities. 

“I love it; you’ve got skin in the game, you’re sharing costs (and) things get done,” Braun said about Community Crossings, which requires a local match for road construction projects. “Skin in the game always works.”

However, Doden called for more local control in place of state oversight. 

“I believe that when we put the READI money in, the local leaders need to decide what projects are,” Doden said. “Not the (Indiana Economic Development Corporation).”

Doden led the quasi-public agency under former Gov. Mike Pence and Chambers stepped down from the IEDC in recent months. Doden focused on small and medium businesses and not the $4 billion investment, so far, from Eli Lilly, the only entity to announce its LEAP presence. 

“Nearly 100% of our growth comes from small- and medium-sized businesses… our strategy is not to do just large projects where the IEDC is serving as developer but to partner with the private sector,” Doden said. 

Both Hill and Crouch criticized the project’s perceived lack of transparency, with Crouch calling for the development of a statewide water plan in light of the LEAP project’s need for millions of gallons of water pumped daily from Tippecanoe County — the latter of which passed a water transfer moratorium.

“It’s imperative that we take projects like this and put them on the shelf until the community buy-in is there,” Hill said. 

Chambers, who oversaw the LEAP investment and announcement, alone defended the project as a way for Indiana to compete for “economies of the future” with North Carolina, Arizona and Texas. 

“This idea of win-lose … we’re all winners or it wouldn’t be done,” Chambers said. “This is the opportunity to lean into the future and grow our economy above what it’s been … (by) lifting and creating jobs that will keep our kids and our grandkids here.”

Standing up for Hoosiers

For Crouch, one key aspect of her campaign has been her personal connection to mental health struggles and addiction within her family, including alcoholism and suicide. 

“We will never cast out our most vulnerable Hoosiers: the unborn, the elderly, the disabled, those struggling with mental illness and addiction because they are our families, our friends and neighbors,” Crouch said. 

For her, improving Hoosier quality of life is essential and strengthening the workforce includes fortifying child care and increasing affordable housing.

“I’ve hosted roundtables across the state and (people are) telling me they don’t have enough workers; they need more skilled workers,” Crouch said. “I will take on the issue of addressing mental illness and addiction because 60% of chronic absenteeism (can be attributed) to mental illness and addiction.”

Hill asked community members to judge the candidates based on their actions and ability to deliver on promises. 

“Who’s going to be the fighter that you need? … Is that a person I want to have in a foxhole with me?” Hill said. “Vote for leadership that you can count on … I have fought for your liberty and I will continue to do so.”

Braun echoed Hill, saying that he alone had the voting record that showed his alignment with his professed values after his six-year term in Congress and stint in the state legislature. 

“If you’re going to practice what you preach, it’s me,” Braun said. 

Rainwater concluded by taking aim at his fellow competitors, noting that he’d never held elected office nor been “an appointed bureaucrat” to a state agency.

“But I have sat down at my laptop with my Excel spreadsheet and figured out what I can’t do with my money in order to pay bills,” Rainwater said. “Hoosiers are hurting; the economy is in crisis… We don’t need bigger government … we need better government.”

The five Republican candidates will appear on stage together again next week at the Dentons Legislative Conference for more discussion on Indiana topics.

Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.