EDITOR'S NOTE:  This article is part one of a three part series based on sit downs with candidates from all three political parties. This article features the Libretarian slate, stories featuring the Democratic candidates and Micah Beckwith can be found online. The Ball State Daily News and NewsLink Indiana reached out to the Republican Party of Indiana and various contacts related to Mike Braun for Indiana and Mike Braun for Senate teams. After working for nearly two months to get in touch with Braun, he ultimately rejected the opportunity to interview with the Ball State Daily News and NewsLink Indiana. His team said he would be unavailable due to a “busy schedule.” 

The upcoming gubernatorial race has been one of much anticipation for Hoosiers, largely due to the close nature of the election. Recent polls from Activote, a nonpartisan political education app, show the Republican Party only has an eight-point lead over the other candidates — a closer margin than the last election cycle in 2020. 

The Ball State Daily News and NewsLink Indiana sat down with candidates from all three political parties represented in the race to answer questions on topics facing students and community members that related to their campaign plans, past statements and personal stances.

Donald Rainwater (L), a navy veteran and lifelong Hoosier, is running in his second campaign as a candidate for governor. A computer applications instructor, manager of a residential property and manager of a retail store, Rainwater is running with Tonya Hudson (L), a real estate broker from Indianapolis. 

Most pre-election polls show the Libertarian Party having anywhere from 6 to 9 percent of projected votes, a decrease from the last election cycle, where they were projected to have 10 to 15 percent of the votes. Ultimately, the party had around 11 percent of votes on election day in 2020.

“The Libertarian Party is focused on individual rights and minimal government,” Rainwater said. “We believe that the Founding Fathers, when they wrote the Constitution, intended for us to be able to be self-governing, and part of the essential human rights is the ability for someone to determine their destiny without government constantly interfering in every piece of that.”

The largest campaign plan Rainwater and Hudson present are their policies on taxes and taxing in Indiana.

“Local governments are being allowed to spend money on things they shouldn't be spending it on,” Rainwater said. “State government is spending way too much money on things they don't need to be spending it on. They're not spending it on the things they've promised.”

One place Rainwater would like to see a change in gas taxes in Indiana. According to reporting from the Indiana Capital Chronicle, the state’s gas tax is what largely funds roads and infrastructure. However, it was also reported that this money is starting to run out as many switch to hybrid vehicles. 

“Most people don't know that when you buy a gallon of gasoline, you pay the state of Indiana two separate taxes. One is a 7 percent sales tax … the other one is the excise tax on gasoline,” Rainwater said. “I don't think any Hoosier should have to pay two taxes on the same product. Imagine having to pay two taxes on oil and bread. People would lose their minds.”

Rainwater also intends to rethink education in the state by reallocating the state funding education receives to ensure that tax money is being given to classrooms and educators. 

“All we get out of our state government is we need to throw more money at [education]. And here again, their answer for everything is ‘give us more money and we'll fix it.’ They never do. It continues to have problems. It continues to get worse,” Rainwater said. 

On the conversation of healthcare and reproductive rights, Rainwater said he is a “pro-life libertarian” but ultimately believes that one’s healthcare choice is theirs and not the government's.

“During the pandemic, if you want to wear a mask, you wear a mask. If you don't want to wear a mask, you don't wear a mask. You protect yourself. You don't expect everybody else to protect you,” Rainwater said. “If you want to take the vaccine, you take the vaccine. If you don't, you don't. Because I've never heard anybody explain to me how, if I'm not vaccinated and you are, how me not being vaccinated hurts you. It can hurt me but not you.” 

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, vaccinations create “community immunity,” meaning when the majority of a community gets vaccinated, “the germs can’t travel as easily from person to person — and the entire community is less likely to get the disease.” 

Rainwater says this idea of personal choice and freedom of choice comes from a “non-aggression principle," which teaches that one can do whatever they want as long as it doesn’t infringe on the rights of someone else. This principle also drives Rainwater’s feelings on marijuana legalization in the state. 

“There are also people who self-medicate with alcohol, other drugs, who want to be able to legally purchase and use cannabis,” Rainwater said. “If we have legal tobacco, legal alcohol, why don't we have legal cannabis? There is no reason logically that I can see other than somebody else would have a profit margin hit if cannabis were legal.”

In terms of agriculture, one thing that Hudson hopes to contribute to if she was lieutenant governor is to “roll back the overregulated industry.” Hudson references farmers who are struggling to make ends meet due to “all the rules and regulations.” 

“I had a farmer say that he's getting into solar panels, and which is only a small percentage of farmland, but it helps produce alternative electricity and can be a boost for some communities,” Hudson said. “That's one of the things that some farmers are looking at leasing their land as solar in the industry there, just so they can have some money to pay their bills”

All three candidates for governor will meet for a debate hosted by the nonpartisan Indiana Debate Commission Oct. 24, which will be televised by WFYI.

Contact Olivia Ground via email at olivia.ground@bsu.edu.

NewsLink Indiana Members Abby Urban, Gavin Smith, Brooke Follrad and Sophie Schick contributed to this article. 

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