According to the Indiana Debate Commission, Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, Democratic candidate Dr. Woody Myers and Libertarian candidate Donald Rainwater will debate at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 and Oct. 27 at WFYI-TV’s studio.
While many debates focus solely on Republican and Democratic runners, Dr. Elizabeth Bennion, president of the Indiana Debate Commission, says it is important to inform Hoosiers of all potential candidates.
“Mr. Rainwater does qualify to be on the ballot in Indiana, and we don’t want people to show up at the polls, or get their ballot in the mail, and not have any idea who this person is on their ballot,” Bennion said. “In addition, it challenges the major party candidates to think about how their platform relates to the Libertarian party position rather than just defaulting to a standard talking point.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the debates will be a bit different this year. Where normally, the governor’s debates in Indiana would happen at multiple live venues, this time, the debates will instead happen in-studio.
“The candidates will be socially distanced, and there will be a very limited skeletal crew, and then we send the signal across the state,” Bennion said.
In terms of debate format, Bennion says the governor’s debates will be traditional: candidates will briefly introduce themselves before answering a series of policy questions that they haven’t seen before. Those questions are submitted by Hoosier voters on IndianaVoters.com.
“The Commission screens those questions. First, we sort them into topic areas, then look through which topics are coming up the most. Then, we pick questions,” Bennion said. “What we really want to do is put voters first, and have the candidates answer questions that are on the minds of Hoosier voters.”
Debates, Bennion says, are extremely vital to the election process because they allow people to see candidates side-by-side as they really are.
“In a debate, you don’t have the cover of a surrogate. ‘Oh, that was my campaign manager, that was the communication director, I disavow that statement if it’s unpopular’,” Bennion said. “You’re hearing from the candidates in their own words, and so they’re taking accountability for what they say.”
