INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republican Dan Coats and Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth sparred over the economy, immigration and Social Security Monday in the last of three debates for Indiana's open U.S. Senate seat.
Ellsworth said Coats, who previously represented Indiana in the U.S. House and Senate, shouldn't have voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement because it cost the state jobs. Coats said open trade is important, and that trade barriers would hurt the state.
Ellsworth also criticized Coats for voting for an amnesty proposal for illegal immigrants, though Coats said he does not support amnesty.
"To come home to Indiana after this many years and say he's totally against it is disingenuous," Ellsworth said.
Coats, the son of a Swedish immigrant, said he has cast 12 to 15 votes against amnesty since the vote Ellsworth referenced. "That was 26 years ago," Coats said.
Coats, who polls show leading the race for the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Evan Bayh, said Ellsworth's support of Democratic programs such as the federal stimulus and health care overhaul are taking the country in the wrong direction.
Coats said Social Security needs to be "saved from itself" and suggested increasing the retirement age and looking at other options to fix the program.
Ellsworth said now isn't the time to raise the retirement age and that putting more people back to work would put more money into the system. Raising the retirement age would be fine for those who work at desks but "it's not fine for somebody who's on the end of a jackhammer," he said.
Ellsworth, as he has throughout the campaign, tried to convince voters that Coats, a former lobbyist, would represent special interests instead of the people. Coats continued to try and portray Ellsworth as a liberal in conservative clothing who sides with Democratic leadership in Washington.
Near the end of the debate, Coats said he's talked to Indiana residents and knows he represents the values of the state — and that doesn't include big bailouts and costly health care programs.
"I know exactly what they want," Coats said.
Ellsworth noted Coats has lived outside Washington for years and has a second home in North Carolina.
"I never left Indiana," Ellsworth said.
Libertarian Rebecca Sink-Burris said the debates, all of which have included Coats and Ellsworth trading jabs, highlight why she's a Libertarian.
"I want to stop the tennis match in Washington," she said.
About 300 people attended the debate at the Red Skelton Performing Arts Center at Vincennes University.
Afterward, reporters asked Ellsworth about a poll released Monday by WISH-TV in Indianapolis that shows Coats favored by 53 percent of respondents, compared with 35 percent for Ellsworth. The poll, of 500 likely voters, had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Ellsworth said he's confident he did all he could with the time and resources he had in the race, which began for Ellsworth after Bayh unexpectedly said in February that he would not seek re-election.
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