Gubernatorial candidate discusses campaign

Republican candidate for governor Jim Wallace walked into the Indiana Daily Student newsroom holding an Android tablet and started off his interview talking about  its advantages and disadvantages.

Wallace is not your run-of-the-mill Republican. He’s tech-savvy and he doesn’t think it makes sense to focus on divisive social issues.

A graduate of Harvard Business School, Wallace is the grandson of a grandmother who didn’t speak English and a grandfather who couldn’t read or write.

His father was the first in his family to complete high school and Wallace was the first to graduate from college.

Wallace stopped by the IDS newsroom to discuss his campaign.

IDS — Why are you running for governor?

Wallace — The short answer is job growth and the economy. I started talking to folks around the state, casual conversations with the governor and others, just asking ‘What’s the most important thing to Hoosiers?’

And, sure enough, in a statewide poll, by a margin of 8-1, Hoosiers are more concerned about jobs and the economy than they are about any social issues
.
IDS — So you would sort of follow in the footsteps of Mitch Daniels, calling a ‘truce’ on social issues, that you wouldn’t address social issues like abortion and gay marriage during your tenure?

Wallace — I think he might have been the victim of a poor use of words. It’s not that social issues aren’t important. I feel the same way as Mike Pence does and
most Hoosiers.

I’m a man of faith, I’m pro-life. I just don’t wear that on my sleeve. And it’s not a defining factor that would separate people that want to create jobs and would
be helpful.

I think Mike Pence’s priorities of being a Christian, conservative and Republican — in that order — are actually exclusionary.

You know, if you don’t share them, it causes a lot of folks to have suspicions, skepticisms, misgivings. I don’t think the color of your book of faith is important
.
IDS — How are you similar or dissimilar to the current governor, Mitch Daniels?

Wallace — I do think I’m probably the most Mitch-like candidate in the crowd. Although, on the other hand, I think there are probably three areas that I think I differ from the current administration.

One is property tax caps. We need to be pretty careful. They’re a very popular voter issue, but it’s causing a lot of stress for communities around the state as they try to deal with funding issues in this tough environment.

Township consolidation is another area that the governor and other people at the statehouse need to pursue aggressively.

Most counties are rural in Indiana; and if we got rid of the township level of government, fire safety, poor relief, assessing services would all suffer.

Another is education reform. We have a lot of teachers involved in our campaign. I’ve talked to them and heard them say they’re just like the rest of us.

They want to go to work, feel like they made a difference in a child’s life and get paid a fair wage at the end of the day.

I think the whole education reform template that we’re looking at now, where the state will just come in and take over a school, fails to recognize that we’ve put teachers in the role of babysitter and kind of removed parental involvement.

IDS — Where do you stand on the Planned Parenthood defunding law?

Wallace — Stupid. It’s like swatting a gnat with a four-by-four.

I mentioned that I’m pro-life. And there are ways to deal with eliminating public funding of abortion without costing the whole segment of women’s health care its
existence as well.

That’s one thing I would take Mike Pence to task for. Those are the kind of Neanderthal responses that give Republicans a bad name.

I don’t think the government should be anyway involved in the institution or the legislation of morality. That kind of flies right in the face of why the Puritans came to America in the first place.

It was to escape those types of proscription of the freedom. I don’t think government should be involved in that at all. Every step we take toward legislating is making us a more exclusionary environment.

IDS — Should the state have to always balance its budget, even in a recession?

Wallace — I think the short answer to that is, I’d like to think that Hoosiers and Americans are intelligent enough to be given the latitude to borrow when we need and not borrow when we don’t need to.

Indiana has fared pretty well at managing its finances.

A balanced budget amendment might be required in some other states, and I’d like to see it structured the same way we have it here in Indiana where you have to pay it back within a specific time frame, rather than saying ‘You can never spend more than you take in.’

IDS — Do you think it’s appropriate for the state to have more than a billion dollars in reserves when local communities are hurting financially?

Wallace — I think we should push that money back into the communities. I’m not in favor of building a huge war chest at the state level.

In fact, I’d like to reduce the size of state government and move those services out to the local level.

IDS — What’s the biggest difference between yourself and your opponent, Mike Pence

Wallace — I have business experience and he doesn’t. I also like to think that I’m a lot better at reaching across the aisle.