The candidates for governor - Republican Mike Braun , Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater - faced off in the second debate of the 2024 governor's race Thursday night, just a day after Braun and McCormick met in the first debate of the season.
Thursday night's debate was hosted by WISH-TV and moderated by a team led by Phil Sanchez.
One key difference between Thursday's debate and Wednesday's FOX59/CBS4 debate was that it featured Rainwater, who didn't qualify for the first debate.
This week's debates happened just days before Indiana's voter registration deadline on Oct. 7 and the start of early voting on Oct. 8.
Indiana Voter Guide: Who's running for Congress, Statehouse, governor, AG and school board
Braun, a sitting U.S. Senator, has been seen as the clear frontrunner in the race as a Democrat hasn't been elected governor in more than two decades. However, McCormick's campaign received a burst of enthusiasm after Kamala Harris became the Democratic Party's presidential nominee this summer. Though Rainwater earned more than 11% of the vote back in 2020, recent polling shows him potentially earning a lower vote share this time around.
We recapped key moments from the debate for IndyStar readers. Catch up here:
Rainwater and McCormick hung around to chat with reporters in the spin room. Rainwater broke down his differentiated role as such: The two options are "big government, big taxes and big spending, or me, because I want government to be smaller."
McCormick said she appreciated having Rainwater on stage, calling him a "good man" who Hoosiers deserve to hear from because he's on their ballot.
We noticed that Micah Beckwith barely was mentioned tonight. McCormick said there wasn't a particular reason she hit less hard on that tonight, other than the questions being different. She also said the Braun-Beckwith ticket has yet to apologize about the doctored ad or "Jezebel spirit" comment .
But McCormick had some fun with it as she was leaving. The spin room had a kitchen set in the background, and she asked reporters if they wanted a picture of her in front of the stove.
- Kayla Dwyer
The candidates finished up the debate with closing statements.
Braun used his time to both tout his record as “one of the most effective” U.S senators and question McCormick’s ability to govern if elected.
“Imagine what you can do when you can come back and set the agenda and get along with a legislature that is a supermajority,” Braun said. “That means you should get some stuff done. But the idea that you can get things done if you’re not generally lined up with them is probably not going to work.”
McCormick used her time to mention Braun’s running mate Micah Beckwith for the first time this evening, though he was a focus of last night’s debate.
“Do we want extremism?” McCormick said. “Do we want fear and chaos? Do we want someone who has a ticket that talks about book banning and white Christianism and Jezebel spirts and saying that Fishers community is grooming kids? Is that what we want? No.”
Rainwater criticized both the Democratic and Republican Party, who he said “take, take, take more and more of my money and your money and it goes out the window or out the back door.”
“I’m asking for your vote because I’ll go in and I’ll disrupt the system,” Rainwater said.
- Hayleigh Colombo
Candidates managed to steer a question about affordable housing back again to property taxes.
McCormick cited her property tax plan as one method to address affordable housing. Rainwater agreed with the concept that property taxes contribute to affordability, but reiterated his push to make it effectively a sales tax. Braun recalled the limits to growth of property tax bills contained within his plan.
He pointed out that this seems to be an issue of rare agreement among the three -- that property taxes need addressing.
- Kayla Dwyer
A question on cutting government spending led to a moment where McCormick took on Braun’s record in business, which he has been touting throughout the debates and in the campaign.
She referenced issues with overtime not being paid to workers at Meyer Distributing, the Jasper-based auto part distribution company owned by Braun, a topic that Democrats latched onto back during Braun's 2018 Senate run.
"It's super interesting that Mr. Braun keeps bringing up his business as an example of how he successfully did it, when he had problems with overtime wages that everybody knew about, " McCormick said.
Back in 2018, the Associated Press reported that despite Braun’s rhetoric, lawsuits filed against his companies and federal and labor records “present a picture of a boss who has overworked and underpaid employees.”
That includes workers who alleged they were forced to “work long hours in unsafe conditions and denied overtime pay, meal times and breaks.”
The Associated Press also reported that Meyer was cited 26 times for wage and overtime pay violations between 2008 and 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
- Hayleigh Colombo
Are your ears ringing? If you need a quick reminder: McCormick wants to phase in legalization from medical marijuana to, gradually, adult-use recreational, overseen by an independent commission.
Rainwater doesn't think Indiana needs a new commission or an expansion of government, but still believes Indiana could make both medical and recreational marijuana legal immediately. He would also want to expunge all nonviolent criminal cannabis related offenses.
Braun reminds us that he would take his cue from law enforcement, from whom he's gained some endorsements. But his language seems to be getting stronger the more he's asked about it. On medical marijuana specifically, he said, "I think that's going to happen. … I think we're probably ready for it."
McCormick took the opportunity for a jab, saying lawmakers did not listen to law enforcement when they were against the permitless carry legislation.
-Kayla Dwyer
When talking about education and school choice, Braun and Rainwater went after McCormick’s record on Indiana’s educational performance. McCormick is the former superintendent of public instruction.
“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 of McCormick.
But McCormick said she was responsible for implementing Republican policy, and criticized the many changes in educational standards and state testing in recent years.
“We keep changing those standards because we’ve had 20 years of one-party rule,” McCormick said.
- Hayleigh Colombo
Rainwater, while a pro-life Libertarian, said this issue should be litigated through the three branches of government -- if there's a constitutional issue, the judiciary should speak up; if citizens want changes, they should call their legislators.
Braun thinks lawmakers did a good job with the passage of the state's near-total abortion ban and that it's held up, saying Indiana is a "pro-life state." He thinks the issue should have always been left to the states.
McCormick said because Hoosiers can't make this decision in a citizen-led ballot, a governor like her should be their voice and push for less restrictive abortion access.
Rainwater said it seemed McCormick was implying "all men are evil" and only women should speak on the issue.
"I never said that," McCormick said. "But what I will say is, I trust women. And if that equates to people on this stage thinking I said that men are horrible people, that should tell you something."
- Kayla Dwyer
Asked what the candidates think Indiana should do about illegal immigration, McCormick took the chance to hit Braun again on his voting against a major bipartisan border bill, as she did last night. Rainwater joined her in ganging up on Braun.
"I hear Senator Braun say it's a simple solution, but my question is, if the man has been a U.S. Senator for the last 6 years, why hasn't he solved it yet?" Rainwater said.
Braun said border policy was working well under the Donald Trump administration and took a turn for the worse under President Joe Biden and "border czar" Vice President Kamala Harris.
-Kayla Dwyer
The candidates started off the debate tussling over rising property taxes. All three candidates raised their hands when asked if they wanted to cut property taxes, though they said they differed on approach.
Braun said cutting property taxes was a “no brainer” and said his plan resets property taxes to what they were prior to inflation and then limits raises to 2% or 3% after that.
McCormick praised her own “common sense” plan and knocked Braun for revising his plan multiple times based on feedback from local governments.
She said it’s just like Braun’s campaign commercials, referring to the Braun campaign's decision to add a disclaimer to an ad containing a doctored image.
“We just keep redoing them,” she said.
Rainwater and Braun also argued over who had the first plan to cut property taxes.
“I just want to make sure you’re aware that Mr. Braun has no idea how much effort I’ve put into my plan,” Rainwater said.
- Hayleigh Colombo
We're live, again! The WISH-TV gubernatorial debate, the second debate of the week, has begun, featuring all three candidates: Republican Mike Braun, Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater.
This is voters' last chance to hear all three candidates on one stage before early voting begins Tuesday.
Tonight's moderators are news anchors Phil Sanchez and Dakarai Turner.
Here’s a rundown of how WISH is planning to conduct the debate:
- Candidates have one minute to answer a question from the moderators and can have 30 seconds for rebuttal or follow up questions.
- There are no opening statements, but candidates will have 90 seconds for a closing statement. -Kayla Dwyer
In the first gubernatorial debate , the candidates covered a range of recent controversies, from U.S. Sen. Mike Braun's negative campaign ad that initially violated a new Indiana election law to his running mate Micah Beckwith's likening the Democratic ticket to the "Jezebel spirit ."
The candidates also discussed policy issues such as marijuana legalization, abortion, teacher pay, housing and utility costs.
Read IndyStar's analysis here.
A recent Emerson College/The Hill poll conducted in September shows 45% of likely Hoosier voters would choose Braun in the governor’s race, 34% would pick McCormick, 6% would choose Rainwater and 13% were undecided.
Jennifer McCormick is an educator by trade whose first and only elected position was that of state schools superintendent in 2016, when she ran as a Republican. An avid defender of public schools, she clashed with her party on policy almost immediately, and turned to the Democratic party upon leaving that office.
In our profile of McCormick's life and political position , we delve into that evolution, as well as the natural skepticism that followed.
U.S. Sen. Mike Braun likened himself to a Hoosier version of Donald Trump when he championed his business background and beat two sitting congressmen and an incumbent to get elected to the Senate.
Now in his race for governor, whether that background and the endorsement of Trump is a benefit or a liability depends on whom you ask, as we explore in our profile of Braun from the primary season .
In the 2020 gubernatorial election, Donald Rainwater rode the wave of anti-government anger during the COVID-19 pandemic to a record performance for a statewide Libertarian candidate. But this time around, conditions are different ― the incumbent to theoretically blame is leaving office, and the Republican ticket has captured some of those sentiments already.
What that leaves for Rainwater, who is running again this year, we examine in this profile .
Early voting in the general election runs from Tuesday, Oct. 8, to noon Monday, Nov. 4.
Early voting begins next week: Everything you need to know to vote early in Indiana
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17 .
Contact IndyStar senior government accountability reporter Hayleigh Colombo at hcolombo@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Recap: Braun, McCormick and Rainwater face off in governor's race debate. What you missed.
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