Gubernatorial candidates debate

Candidates Mike Pence, R-6th District, Democrat John Gregg and Libertarian Rupert Boneham faced off Wednesday night in the second of the Indiana Debate Commission’s gubernatorial debate series.

The one-hour segment at Notre Dame University was moderated by John Ketzenberger, president of the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute. Candidates fielded questions from audience members pre-selected by the debate commission. Each had a chance to dictate the conversation’s direction during the “Lincoln-Douglas debate” portion of the event.


Democratic candidate John Gregg

From the opening statement:
“As governor, I’ll honor the Daniels truce on social issues, focus on creating jobs, and together we’ll make Indiana work the Hoosier way, not the Washington way.”

Lincoln-Douglas statement:
“Our roads plan will allow us to use existing funds and leverage $3.5 billion, create 97,000 good-paying jobs. We’re not gonna sell any assets. No surplus, won’t be touched. But we’ll finish US 31 and 69. As a former president of Vincennes University, we’ll spend and develop a pre-kindergarten program because every dollar spent now means seven saved in the future.”

Closing statement:
“I’m pretty much a middle-of-the-road guy. A little right-of-center from most of the people in my party, but you know what? I’m running against a person who is a Tea Partier, who is an extremist, and that’s the truth of the matter. Hoosiers are not extreme people. The Tea Party agenda is extreme, and to those Lugar Republicans and those Independents out there, I am the only person standing between you and Tea Party control of our Hoosier government. “


Libertarian candidate Rupert Boneham
 
From the opening statement:
“I am running not as a career politician but as a small business owner, as a community advocate, as that person that wants to stand up and help bring that change.”

Lincoln-Douglas statement:
“We cannot keep putting everyone in jail. Yes, I believe when you break the law you should be punished. When you hurt someone of course you should be punished... We need to create in our detention centers the solution for our exploding population in our detention centers and not just putting them out on the street.”

Closing statement:
“Being able to stand here and show that I am not the career politician, I am just the business man that is trying to bring some common sense back into our government, bring that ability for us to actually deal with the cause of our problems, not the symptoms. Not to stand up here and argue and fight. Not to blame others, but to deal with what is actually going on and to deal with the cause of our problems.”


Candidate Rep. Mike Pence, R-6th District

From the opening statement:
“I’m running for governor of Indiana because I love this state and because I have a plan to take Indiana from good to great.”

Lincoln-Douglas statement:
“I’d like to hear from my opponents how their plans for tax cuts and spending will square with preserving Indiana’s fiscal integrity and Indiana’s fiscal strength. How will we make sure we preserve honestly balanced budgets in the future, moving forward to preserve the progress Indiana’s made?”

Closing statement:
“I’m running for governor because I love this state, but I’m also running for governor because I think this is no ordinary time in the life of our state. If we produce the right leaders at every level, with an insistent vision of building an even better Indiana, I believe Indiana will take our rightful place as the leading state in the Midwest and one of the fastest-growing state economies in the United States of America. And I’m ready to go to work to do that. I ask for your vote.”