Lieutenant governor candidates to meet at agriculture-themed debate

Democrat Terry Goodin (left) and Republican Micah Beckwith will talk agriculture with the Indiana State Fair as a backdrop. (Photos by Nathan Gotsch/Fort Wayne Politics; graphic by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Nominees for Indiana’s second-highest position are set to meet at the Indiana State Fair for an agriculture-themed debate.

Democrat Terry Goodin , a former lawmaker, and Republican pastor Micah Beckwith will face off.

Agriinstitute, a Danville-based agricultural advocacy group, will host the August 13 debate. It’s scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at the Indiana State Fairgrounds’ Purdue Extension Building.

Hoosiers can also view the debate live on Youtube.

Online , the organization billed the event as a “first-hand opportunity” to see how the candidates view agriculture, rural issues and their impact on the state’s economy.

Gerry Dick, host of Inside INdiana Business, will moderate.

Agriinstitute also hosted lieutenant governor debates in 2020 and 2016, per its Facebook page.

The candidates

Goodin has served as Indiana’s state director for rural development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 2022, per The Associated Press .

Before that, he represented parts of Scott, Clark and Jefferson counties from 2000 to 2020 as a Democratic member of the Indiana House of Representatives. He additionally raises beef cattle on his family farm in Austin, Indiana.

Some Democrats objected to gubernatorial nominee Jennifer McCormick’s choice of Goodin as her running-mate, citing votes in favor of a constitutional ban on gay marriage and firearm rights, and against abortion access. Goodin said his anti-gay vote was “wrong” and that he now supports same-sex marriage.

Delegates overwhelmingly nominated him to the ballot this month.

Beckwith, meanwhile, is a pastor at Life Church’s Noblesville campus and co-hosts a podcast called “Jesus, Sex and Politics” with another pastor. He also operates a small business — a music school — and remains involved in his family’s dairy company.

He was also active in Hamilton County in moving or banning allegedly inappropriate library books.

He was not the Republican establishment or gubernatorial nominee Mike Braun’s first choice — that was first-term lawmaker Julie McGuire . But Beckwith’s yearlong campaign , as opposed to McGuire’s post-primary month on the road , won delegates over.

The role

Indiana’s lieutenant governor is first in line to lead the state if a sitting governor can’t fulfill the top spot’s duties. The lieutenant governor also presides over the Senate, and casts tie-breaking votes.

Indiana Code also gives the officeholder 26 additional roles , according to the National Lieutenant Governor’s Association. That includes overseeing the State Department of Agriculture, the Office of Community & Rural Affairs and the Office of Defense Development, among others.

The lieutenant governor separately chairs the Indiana Mental Health Roundtable, the Intellectual and Development Disabilities Task Force, and the Civics Education Commission.

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