Matt Pierce and Drew Ash, candidates for the Indiana State Representative District 61, debated income inequality, education, civil rights, the economy and the environment in a forum Tuesday night at the Monroe County Public Library.
Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, is running for re-election after first being elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 2002.
Drew Ash, an Independent, is a 21-year-old IU senior running for office because he said he believes the political system is broken. He said the two-party system does not work and should be replaced with a government system that represents all people, not just the wealthy and powerful.
Ash said he will serve as a bridge between the two parties. The most important issues to him are campaign finance reform, the economy, education and the environment.
Big money has no place in politics, he said. He said the state must address the issues by enacting strict campaign finance laws. Ash said he wants to create change in the criminal justice and education systems.
The profit-driven prisons are not just, and the Indiana school systems are neglecting the students most in need by emphasizing standardized testing and the common core, he said.
“Students should not be taught to the test,” Ash said.
Pierce agreed education is an area that particularly needs work. He would vote to eliminate the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus test and find a more inexpensive testing method. Pierce said the state should not rate teachers based on standardized testing scores.
Pierce was also concerned with income inequality and said he will continue to work to increase the minimum wage to support the middle and working classes. The tax code should also be reworked to reduce the burden on working people, he said.
“It’s important to support working-class Hoosiers,” Pierce said.
Ash said it is unjust that full-time workers are living below the poverty line, therefore, a living wage should be enacted state-wide, Ash said. Income inequality is the major problem of our generation, so tax reform is vital, he said.
Ash plans to replace the flat income tax with a progressive income tax, lower sales and corporate income tax rates, increase inheritance tax, re-implement the estate tax and increase the state gasoline tax.
Ash said if he was elected, he will work to ensure that public funds are not misused, like they were with the I-69 highway.
For civil rights, Pierce supports an anti-discrimination bill that adds sexual orientation and gender identity to anti-discrimination laws.
“I best reflect the values of the community, which is why I should return to the statehouse,” Pierce said.
Chaim Julian, a Bloomington resident, said he found Ash to be well-meaning but Ash did not give him any reason to elect him over the more experienced Pierce.
However, Ash remains optimistic.
“Tonight I make it clear that I’m not satisfied with the current state of politics,” Ash said.
This forum is the third part in the League of Women Voter’s forum series. The group is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages citizens to be informed and exercise their right to vote.
