Indiana Senate candidates to debate tonight in Indianapolis

Indiana’s Senate candidates will face the state tonight in a taped debate at WFYI in Indianapolis.

State treasurer candidates Republican Richard Mourdock, Libertarian Andrew Horning and Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-2nd District, will square off from 7 to 8 p.m.
 
Recent polls indicate the race is still close.  

The latest bipartisan poll data commissioned by Howey/DePauw nearly a month ago shows 40 percent of voters choosing Donnelly instead of Mourdock, who came in at 38 percent.

Libertarian Andrew Horning garnered 7 percents of votes among those polled, with a 3.5 percent margin of error.

Although Indiana is not considered a swing state in the presidential election, the outcome of its Senate race could propel Republicans toward a Senate
majority.

The race has so far been flush with money from outside political action groups on both sides, most of which has taken the form of television advertisements.

During a visit to Indianapolis last month, vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., asked Hoosiers to “send us Richard Mourdock.”

On Friday, former President Bill Clinton supported Donnelly during a rally at North Central High School in Indianapolis.

Tonight’s debate was organized by the Indiana Debate Commission, the only state-based independent debate commission in the country. Questions will come from public submissions on the debate commission’s website and are vetted by members of the commission.

It will be moderated by Mizell Stewart III, chief content officer for E.W. Scripps Company’s newspaper division.

The debate can be streamed live on the debate commission’s website, http://indianadebatecommission.com/, or seen on local television stations.

The Indiana Debate Commission will sponsor two more gubernatorial debates and one more senate debate before Election Day on Nov. 6.

Upcoming gubernatorial debates will be 7 p.m. Wednesday and 7 p.m. Oct. 25. The final senate debate will be 7 p.m. Oct. 23.

— Claire Wiseman