Candidates for governor take part in an unusual debate
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The candidates for governor met in the first of three debates Tuesday.
It was staged in front of a high school audience at Lawrence North and those high school students asked most of the questions. The result was an academic exchange by the candidates with no fireworks.
The morning event was web streamed to schools around the state and will be available for broadcast later.
There were some interesting questions including one from a student who wanted to know if illegal immigrants, who graduate from Indiana high schools, should receive in-state tuition at Indiana colleges.
“Every student deserves an education,” said Libertarian Rex Bell, “and when Indiana is offering that, it should be available to all students.”
“Happy to look at it and the status of the student,” said Republican Eric Holcomb, “but again, I haven’t seen the desire in the General Assembly. It hasn’t moved through the committee process in recent years.”
“And this is something that the legislature needs to grapple with,” said Democrat John Gregg. “They’ve been talking about, but I think they need to deal with it on a case by case basis.”
The next two debates will be conducted using more a traditional debate format.
This one turned out to be more of a candidate forum than a debate and all of the questions confined to issues related to education.