The forum was hosted by the Civic Leaders Center in Briscoe Residence Hall. John Zody and Tim Berry, the chairmen for the Indiana Democratic Party and the Indiana Republican Party, respectively, responded to questions from the audience and made comments about each others’ statements.
Zody noted midterm elections are known for usually having a negative outcome for the party of the president.
This year, all U.S. House members’ seats, all State Senate and House members’ seats, along with the Indiana secretary of state, the Indiana treasurer and the Indiana auditor will all be up for election. Since this is a midterm election, there is no presidential election, and for the state of Indiana there are no gubernatorial or U.S. senatorial elections.
Zody identified the main issues on the IDP’s platform during this election cycle to be health care, education and gender and marriage equality, which was a major issue brought to the spotlight this past year by House Joint Resolution 3, which sought to encode Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban into the state constitution.
Berry listed off similar themes from the IRP’s platform with issues such as education, maintaining fiscal stability, reducing over-taxation and focusing on the growth and development of small business.
When asked where the Democratic party will go in the years to come, Zody noted he didn’t expect a massive win for the IDP but was optimistic for the future.
“This is a long-term strategy. We’re gonna try to pick up a few seats this year,” Zody said. “I think the issues, we’re heading in a direction that we feel is good for us. With some of the social issues we’re a ?little ahead of the curve here in Indiana ... and growing our numbers long-term,” he said.
Berry responded to Zody’s statement.
“One of the things that certainly makes our party strong is the diversity of thought within our party,” Berry said. “We are not simply single-issue focused, we’re not single-vision on issues. It’s diversity of thought within our party that allows us to have the debate and that allows us to bring stronger leadership and a stronger agenda for Indiana and for America.”
The theme of young ?voters being relevant to this election was apparent, and Zody addressed the young voters in the audience.
“It’s our job to make sure you’re interested enough to get out there and vote,” Zody said.
Berry had similar things to say about young people getting interested and ?voting.
“Find those issues that matter most to you, and find out how the process is impacting those issues ... figure out what that issue is and figure out who has the answer that most appropriately meets your objective, and get involved,” he said.
