Democratic Congressional candidates to debate today

In a five-way face-off tonight, Democratic candidates vying for Indiana’s 9th District congressional seat will debate at Bloomington High School South.

With the May 8 primary election drawing near, voters will have the opportunity to hear more from the five Democratic candidates before selecting who they want to take on freshman Rep. Todd Young, R-9th District, in November.

Young defeated Mike Sodrel in his party’s primary in 2010.

He went on to capture the 9th District seat in the midterm election from the incumbent Democrat Baron Hill, who had occupied the seat on-and-off since 1998.

This year’s election will represent the first in more than a decade in which Baron Hill isn’t running.

“With Baron as the Congressman and having proven he could win elections, it was natural for 9th District Democrats to get behind him strongly,” said Monroe County Democratic Party Chairman Rick Dietz. “With the absence of a standard bearer in this current primary, this leaves it up to the new candidates to prove they are strong candidates. It’s a changed landscape because Baron isn’t in the race and because the district itself has changed significantly due to the census and the redistricting.”

Last year, the 9th District was redrawn.

The district now includes Johnson County, and parts of Morgan and Lawrence counties. 

Dietz said what was once a fairly even playing field could now give the GOP an advantage in the 2012 general election.

“It’s hard to know what the political dynamic will be in a district until it goes through its first election,” he said. “It’s a more challenging district for Democrats than it was under Baron, but it’s certainly not an impossible district for good candidates.”

Each candidate brings something unique to the table.

Some of the candidates have more government experience than others.

Dietz said he hopes the candidates will debate issues of social security, affordable health care and the economy.

“I happen to think that the issues that will come up in the Democratic primary are going to be critical in the general election,” Dietz said.

The Monroe County Democrats have not endorsed a candidate.

They have no intentions of endorsing a candidate prior to the election.

“Typically, we don’t do candidate endorsements,” Dietz said. “Generally speaking, we believe it helps with party unity if we leave the choices in competitive primaries, when there are new candidates, to the voters.”

The debate, which is sponsored by the Monroe County Democratic Party and the IU College Democrats, is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Bloomington High School South, 1965 S.
Walnut St.

— Katie Mettler