Indiana governor candidates debate abortion ban, economics ahead of 2024 election

INDIANAPOLIS (WLS) — Voters in Indiana will decide on a new governor in the November election. Governor Eric Holcomb cannot run for re-election because of term limit laws in Indiana.

The three candidates running for the office took the stage for a final debate Thursday night before the election.

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It was a relatively calm hour-long debate between the three candidates looking to replace Holcomb, who has presided over a state with Republican control of all three branches of state government.

Democrat Jennifer McCormick, the former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction who used to be a Republican, spoke on the debate stage about economics, abortion and health care.

“We need to make sure our workforce is healthy and we are educated,” McCormick said. “Our consumers are healthy and they are educated, that means prioritizing healthcare cost down, making sure we have reproductive freedoms.”

Republican U.S. Senator Mike Braun was vying to come home.

“We need to spread economic opportunity to all four corners… we need to fertilize a field of small business and entrepreneurs, and the one entity that is for small business, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, endorsed me in this race,” Braun said.

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The third candidate, software engineer Donald Rainwater representing the Libertarian party, blamed government for Indiana’s woes.

“They want you to be dependent on them so that they can tell you what to do, so they can tell you where to go and what do you think,” Rainwater said. “And there’s no place that that is a bigger problem than our public school system.”

Last year, Indiana passed a near total abortion ban with few exceptions. Analysts said it could be the key issue in the election.

“It is in a place that is settled, courts have vetted it and it should have gone back to the states a long time ago,” Braun said.

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“Over 60% of Indiana wants those standards… my opponent has said they didn’t go far enough back… saying, ‘take away the exception for rape and incest,’ and Mr. Braun is now saying it’s a good product,” McCormick said. “That should tell you everything we need to know about who would serve as a good governor.”

Senator Braun remains ahead in the latest polling average from FiveThirtyEight, but the race has tightened in recent weeks.