The two candidates for Indiana House District 69 candidates agreed on two issues during an election forum last week: Medical marijuana and industrial hemp.
Outside of that, there was plenty of distance between Republican incumbent Jim Lucas and Democratic challenger Steve Schoettmer on a variety of other matters.
Regarding cannabis, the candidates support its use for medical purposes and think it can help with pain and the opioid crisis.
Lucas, who lives in Seymour, is a small business owner seeking a fourth term in the Nov. 6 general election. Schoettmer, of Elizabethtown, is a political newcomer and a retired U.S. Postal Service worker and union representative.
The seat they are seeking represents the village of Elizabethtown and other areas in Sand Creek Township in Bartholomew County, along with parts of Jackson, Jennings and Jefferson counties.
About 70 people attended last Tuesday’s candidate forum organized by Jackson County Indivisible and Friends, the local chapter of a grassroots progressive organization.
Each candidate shared views on five topics, including public education and society, government and voting rights, health care, the opioid epidemic and addiction and wages and poverty.
The crowd interjected with several cheers and applause for each candidate at various points. The only negative reaction came when Lucas suggested having children out of wedlock contributes to poverty during a discussion about wages and poverty.
“The best way out of poverty is to be responsible for yourself, get an education and don’t put yourself in the position. Don’t have children until you’re married,” Lucas said. “I’m not being judgmental.”
Among other things, Lucas said the best way to fight poverty is through hard work and increasing skills.
“The best way out of poverty is a job,” he said.
Lucas also said many employers, including his business, pay above minimum wage.
“I pay a high school kid $10 an hour to take trash out,” he said. “I don’t know where there’s a place that pays minimum wage.”
Schoettmer said helping people out of poverty would solve nearly all of the issues discussed during the forum. He said the Republican-controlled legislature has had a devastating effect on wages due to the Right to Work law and the repeal of the common construction wage.
“They’re only looking out for their constituency,” Schoettmer said.
When it came to voting rights and voter fraud, both shared different views on that subject, too.
“The only voter fraud that’s going on is in the Secretary of State’s office,” Schoettmer said.
He was referring to voters’ registrations expiring due to lack of participation.
He signed up a woman to vote by mail, and the clerk’s office said she wasn’t registered because she didn’t participate in the past two election cycles.
Schoettmer proposed the state adopt a law that allows all voters to vote by mail and to be automatically registered to vote when they get their driver’s license.
Lucas said voter fraud is occurring, although cases are rare.
A Seymour man, however, faces a Level 6 felony charge for ineligible voting and has a trial scheduled in February.
Lucas pointed to a Jennings County man’s conviction on 46 counts of voter fraud for casting absentee ballots for the military. The activity took place when Lucas ran for District 66 in 2010 before redistricting made it District 69.
Lucas said punishment for voter fraud should be severe and include one year in prison for each offense.
As for access to voting, Lucas said with so many options to vote, there is little excuse not to.
“You have early voting, voting by mail and voting on Election Day,” he said. “There isn’t a candidate I know — Republican or Democrat — that’s not busting their tail trying to get people to vote.”
Candidates also discussed education.
Lucas, who sits on the House Education Committee, said the state spends a significant amount of its budget on education and receives more funding from the federal government without seeing results.
“We have some of the best teachers in the nation, but their hands are tied behind their back,” Lucas said, adding the government puts too much pressure on standardized testing. “The bureaucrats need to get out of the way and let the teachers teach.”
Schoettmer said the state does not do enough to fund public education and is behind on funding compared to other states. He also shared concerns about the size of classrooms.
“I talked to teacher in Seymour with 40 students in class,” Schoettmer said. “That’s too many.”
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State District 69 candidates
Jim Lucas
Age: 54
Home: Seymour
Education: Seymour High School, U.S. Marine Corps
Occupation: Owner of The Awning Guy
Family: Wife, Lynn; children, Suzanne, Jack and Madeline
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Steve Schoettmer
Age: 63
Home: Elizabethtown
Education: Columbus North High School
Occupation: Retired from U.S. Postal Service and American Postal Workers Union president
Family: Children, Patrick, Stephanie, Matthew and Eli
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Meet the candidates for U.S. Senate from Indiana: Incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly, Republican Mike Braun and Libertarian Lucy Brenton.
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