Republican U.S. Senate candidates Marlin Stutzman and Todd Young met Monday for their first and only televised debate prior to Indiana’s May 3 primary election.
The two U-S representatives are similar in many ways. Both argue for lower taxes and reduced regulation. And, both tout support from anti-abortion groups and the NRA.
As they sought to define themselves for Republican voters, most of the sparring was over terms like “establishment candidate” and “career politician.”
Stutzman contends Young is the so-called “establishment” candidate who won’t help reform what Stutzman calls a broken system.
“We’ve seen that the establishment has decided, Mitch McConnell has decided to jump into the race here in Indiana to pick, his pick has been Congressman Young,” he says.
Young maintains Stutzman, who first ran for office in 2002, is the real career politician.
“You are the one who said you are against farm subsidies but pocketed a million dollars in farm subsidies,” Young says. “You’re the one, Marlin, who criticized a candidate who was running against you for living outside of Washington, D.C. First thing you did when you were sworn in is bought an $800,000 mansion and moved your family to Washington, D.C.”
Stutzman counters that he’s always opposed farm subsidies and moved his family to D.C. to be closer to them while he serves in Congress.
The two candidates are seeking the Republican nomination to replace retiring Senator Dan Coats.
The full debate is slated to be posted online at indianadebatecommission.com.