The congressional race in Indiana’s 9th District is one of many midterm contests that have received national attention from political commentators speculating Republican incumbents across the country may be unseated by a “blue wave.”
There is no safe prediction for how Indiana’s 9th District congressional race will turn out. The district has been represented by Democrats Baron Hill and Lee Hamilton in the recent past.
But frankly, Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, the Republican who has held the seat since January 2017, is giving the impression of not taking the campaign seriously.
Throughout the campaign, Democratic candidate Liz Watson has consistently called for debates with Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth has consistently declined requests for him to appear in person.
Refusing to debate always makes a candidate look bad. For obvious reasons, it gives the impression that a candidate wants to run on likability, name recognition and party affiliation rather than on the issues.
For example, on Oct. 1, Hollingsworth declined to appear alongside Watson and candidates for other offices, both Democratic and Republican, at a “meet the candidates” event put on by the Clark County Farm Bureau.
Watson made herself look bad by falsely claiming Hollingsworth had pledged to be there, when in fact, he never intended to be. However, the best move for Hollingsworth would have been to agree to appear at the event in the first place.
There had been a House vote scheduled in Washington, D.C. that day, but Hollingsworth actually did have plans for what to do if the vote was canceled. His campaign told the Clark County Farm Bureau he would be in Orange County, Indiana, to celebrate Lincoln Day. “Lincoln Day” is a name many local GOP organizations across the country use to innocuously describe fundraising events.
Appearing in public and letting voters see him go toe-to-toe on the issues would have been more productive than celebrating “Lincoln Day.”
Watson is not the only one who has called for Hollingsworth to debate publicly. A number of organizations based in the 9th District have attempted to put together public forums featuring the two candidates.
The Bloomington-Monroe County chapter of the League of Women Voters, Hoosiers for a Common Sense Health Plan and WTIU, the public television channel owned and operated by IU, have all tried organizing debates of the 9th District House seat. The Watson campaign is on the record as supporting those initiatives, while the Hollingsworth campaign has responded negatively.
Perhaps Hollingsworth doesn’t want to appear in Bloomington, where Watson gets most of her support. But Bloomington is the largest city in his district.
The Hollingsworth campaign told the News and Tribune these organizations had political motivations. In the cases of the Bloomington-Monroe County League of Women Voters and Hoosiers for a Common Sense Health Plan, that may be true, but there’s no reason to believe WTIU would not be fair.
And if it’s a matter of time or place, Hollingsworth should suggest his own preferred setting in which to debate Watson.
As long as Hollingsworth continues to dodge debates, he appears to not be taking the campaign seriously. With the Nov. 6 midterms fast approaching, Hollingsworth is running out of time to appear publicly alongside his opponent.
