Braun, McCormick and Rainwater debate for governor

After two nights of back-to-back debate, three candidates across the political divide met Wednesday and Thursday nights to make their argument for why Indiana voters should elect them as the next governor.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, having reached his term limit after being in office for eight years within a 12-year period, is unable to run for office, making the seat not only open, but appealing for a senator who may want to work a little closer to home.
Mike Braun, one-term Republican U.S. senator, is stepping away from his federal seat to govern back home in Indiana. Republican Rep. Jim Banks and Democrat Valerie McCray are looking to fill Braun’s soon-to-be vacant seat.
Republican Sen. Mike Braun runs against Democrat Jennifer McCormick, who he debated on Thursday, and will debate again on Oct. 24.
Photo Provided/
If Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater have anything to say about it, they’re not going to make Braun’s descent back into state government a smooth one.
Despite McCormick and Rainwater’s efforts, the race hasn’t been all that close. September polling from ARW Strategies and Emerson College show Braun leading with a 7% (44% to McCormick’s 37%) and 11% lead (45% to McCormick's 34%, Rainwater holds 5.8% and 13.3% are undecided).
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Senator spars against Democrat
Braun and McCormick met Wednesday night for the first gubernatorial debate hosted by FOX 59, discussing topics ranging from abortion and education to installing ballot initiatives.
A highlight of the debate came when Braun was asked about a “digitally altered campaign ad” of McCormick with supporters behind her holding signs that say “NO GAS STOVES!” Debate moderator Dan Spehler said the ad did not originally include a disclaimer that the image was altered, though it was corrected later.
Senator Mike Braun published an advertisement featuring a doctored image (below) of an event Democrat Jennifer McCormick held in South Bend. The image provided shows a disclaimer that allegedly wasn't in the original ad.
Photos provided by South Bend Tribune and WOWO Weather and Talk radio station.
“But even with the disclaimer, the ad still presented an image that never happened in real life,” Spehler said to Braun. “Going beyond this particular campaign spot, are you comfortable with your campaign fabricating pictures of this nature?”
“That was amplifying a point and the only misstep there was that you didn’t disclaim it, and that's a recent law that just passed in Indiana,” Braun responded. “When I saw that I immediately corrected it, no campaign is going to be perfect, but you do need to get at the underlying substance.”
Both parties claimed victory following the debate.
"Tonight's debate showed that Mike Braun is the right leader for Hoosiers,” said Indiana GOP Chairman Randy Head in a press release. “While Mike Braun focused on the issues that matter the most to Hoosiers — education, inflation, and healthcare — Democrat Jennifer McCormick pushed fringe topics that don’t reflect the priorities of Indiana families.”
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“Jennifer McCormick has the clear, commonsense vision to put Indiana back on the right track after 20 years of one-party rule, and that was on full display during Wednesday night’s gubernatorial debate,” said Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl in a press release. “Jennifer laid out her plans to restore reproductive freedom, repair Hoosier roads, fully fund public schools, and legalize cannabis like every one of our neighboring states.”
Enter the Libertarian
Rainwater was absent from Wednesday’s debate because he did not qualify to be there.
Libertarian Donald Rainwater discussed how he felt the Thursday debate went with media.
Joaquin Guerrero | Staff Photographer
“(Candidates) must have received at least 10% in a ballot test poll question ... chosen by Nexstar Media released within 120 days before the general election,” according to the station requirements for the debate.
Rainwater held 5.8% of Nexstar’s chosen poll from Emerson College, lower than 13.3% undecided.
In a post on X, Rainwater said he was not “able to participate in the Fox59/CBS4 debate,” and instead encouraged supporters to donate to the campaign to “reach voters before early voting starts who do not know about me from social media.”
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Parties collide
All three candidates met in Indianapolis Thursday evening for the second of three debates this cycle. The Exponent went to Indianapolis to cover the debate.
Standing behind their podiums, Braun wore a blue button-up with the top button undone, McCormick donned a dark blue pantsuit, a turn from her all-white pantsuit she wore Wednesday, and Rainwater dressed in a navy suit with a bright yellow tie.
Jennifer McCormick shakes hands with an audience member following her Town Hall meeting at the West Lafayette Public Library. McCormick has hosted other standing-room-only town halls and needed to open the West Lafayette Elm room due to the high volume of attendees.
Madeline Misterka | Staff Photographer
On policy issues, the major moments of the night stemmed from their debate on abortion, education and marijuana.
Surrounded by two pro-life men, McCormick made the argument that she was the only one who truly understood the issue.
“I'm the only person who has been pregnant, who has given birth,” McCormick said in the debate. “I am a mom, and I'm a proud military mom. What I will say is I trust women, and I trust our health care providers. And this topic is so complex, and I think it's so interesting, that the men are the ones telling women what we can and cannot do with our bodies."
Braun affirmed the Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade and said the issue belongs to the state.
“Our legislature took that issue up and got with their own constituents, the citizens of this state, and it's a pro-life state, they crafted a bill that's got reasonable exceptions that mustered not only the legislative process, but even the courts,” he said.
Rainwater said that as governor, his job would be to “invoke the rule of law” based on what the judicial branch and legislators should decide.
Sen. Mike Braun speaks during the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action Leadership Forum in 2023.
Exponent File Photo
Education was an area the Democratic candidate seemed eager to bat at, especially with her experience as the superintendent of public instruction. On the topic of school choice, she said the state had a commitment to invest in public education.
“If I show up with a child and the school does not like the academic performance or the color of their skin or how they identify LGBTQ or their religious belief, they do not have to take them,” she said. “(The state constitution) says to fund common schools, which are determined to be public schools. Public dollars need to go to public schools.”
As ready as she may have been to answer, Braun was prepared to attack McCormick's record.
“If you were in charge for four years and results never got any better, I think you’ve got to be held accountable when that’s the one thing you did in state government,” Braun said.
She responded later in the night that, though it may have been her only elected position, it was still one she was happy to brandish on her political resume.
“I'm the only candidate here that has been in charge of the state agency, so that experience will serve me well when I am reviewing and making those decisions about state agencies.”
All candidates had different approaches on how to approach marijuana legalization, but each had a modicum of support for some area of legalization.
Braun’s approach was to listen to what law enforcement advised would be the best route for legalization.
“I’ve huddled up with law enforcement, been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, been endorsed by the State Trooper Alliance and many sheriffs,” Braun said. “I'm going to listen to them carefully, because whatever we do, they're going to be the ones (that are) going to have to enforce it or put up with the issues around it if you don't get it correct.”
Rainwater advocated for no new regulations and should make it fully legal.
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“If legislators are not prepared, that is their fault and we should probably replace them,” Rainwater said. “We should make this legal now, and as governor, I would make sure that all nonviolent criminal cannabis related offenses are expunged.”
The one thing all candidates agreed on, and something Braun was the first to bring up, was the need to reduce property taxes and provide more affordable housing.
“I think that's the one thing that we, all three, agree on,” Braun said. “I think we (all) held our hand up early. Property taxes have gotten out of line.”
Earlier in the night, Rainwater said Braun’s current plan was stolen from his.
“I actually came up with the plan first because I recognized many years ago, as a Hoosier homeowner, that property patches were spiraling out of control,” Rainwater said.
Braun responded saying his plan was the only realistic one in the room.
“In terms of a plan that has been fleshed out recently that actually had some real effort put into in terms of what would be reasonable and practical … It addressed the most critical issue, reset (property taxes) before we got inflation by the current administration.”
Post-debate reactions
McCormick and Rainwater both held brief appearances in the spin room following the debate. Braun did not make an appearance.
Rainwater, the first to appear before media, said it would be silly if he didn’t give himself an “A+” on his performance, but wished there were other topics that would be discussed.
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“Every Hoosier is unique, and every Hoosier has specific issues that matter to them. We can't cover them in an hour.” Rainwater said when asked about what topics he wished were discussed. “Whoever becomes the next governor needs to make sure that we actually govern for the people, not for special interests, not for large corporations or labor unions or somebody filling our campaign coffers.”
McCormick said she “obviously” won after the debate, attributing it to her focus on Hoosier issues while Braun focused on “extreme” issues.
“People are tired of that. People want to see common sense,” she said. “They want to see the fear and the chaos put aside. They want people to lead on the real issues such as jobs and education, child care (and) health care costs.”
The Exponent interviewed McCormick and Rainwater weeks before the debate, asking their take on local issues such as Purdue’s, at the time, inability to host a voting location, the LEAP Water pipeline and diploma requirements.
One more Gubernatorial debate is scheduled for Oct. 24, just weeks before Election Day. Early voting begins Oct. 8.
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