We're Building A Better Tri-State Together
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Two of three Indiana U.S. Senate candidates meet in debate focused on policy proposals

A screenshot of the livestream of the Indiana U.S. Senate debate. Valerie McCray is a Black woman with black hair. She is wearing a blue suit. Andrew Horning is a White man with gray hair and beard. He is wearing glasses and a dark suit. Laura Merrifield Wilson is a White woman with blonde hair. She is wearing a light blazer over a dark dress.
Screenshot of Indiana Debate Commission livestream
Indiana Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Valerie McCray, left, and Libertarian candidate Andrew Horning, center, met for a debate moderated by Laura Merrifield Wilson, University of Indianapolis associate professor of political science. on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024.

The lone debate in Indiana's 2024 U.S. Senate race was a sedate exchange between just two of the three candidates, as Republican Jim Banks declined to participate.

Democrat Dr. Valerie McCray and Libertarian Andrew Horning did take the opportunity Tuesday to share their policy ideas.

They disagreed on several topics, including health care, gun regulations, and the country’s support of conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

READ MORE: Indiana's U.S. Senate candidates talk Social Security, immigration and abortion

For Horning, the disagreement was often rooted in his view that most of what the federal government does is unconstitutional.

“We need to reprioritize what we're using government for,” Horning said. “You know, the fact that we are funding every other country on the planet, we're using our armies and our dollar to force other countries to do what we want when we're not taking care of our own people here at home — that's ridiculous.”

But Horning and McCray never argued, rarely even addressing each other. Horning even used one rebuttal solely to share his appreciation for a McCray answer.

Join the conversation and sign up for the Indiana Two-Way. Text "Indiana" to 765-275-1120. Your comments and questions in response to our weekly text help us find the answers you need on statewide issues and the election, including our project Civically, Indiana.

Banks was mentioned only twice by either of his opponents. McCray referenced him in an answer about supporting federal legislation to spur tech manufacturing.

“My other opponent, however, has tried to block these bills that were bringing information and bringing money, bringing technology to Indiana,” McCray said.

McCray also used her final words in the debate to say Banks skipped it because he “disrespects” Hoosiers.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.