For the first time together, candidates for Indiana House District 34 will meet for an organized debate.
The event is open to the public and at 7:30 tonight in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center Cardinal Hall. Moderators will ask Democrat Sue Errington and Republican Brad Oliver questions at the debate.
The moderators are assistant professor of political science Charles Taylor and professor of political science Ray Scheele.
"This is a very good opportunity for both students and members of the general public to meet and see the views on the issues of the two candidates," Scheele said.
The event will focus mainly on jobs and education. Both candidates want to increase jobs and improve education but have separate ideas on how to do that.
Errington said she hopes to increase the amount of money the state gives to students to lessen the burden of tuition. Instead of students paying two-thirds of the cost, she would like to see students paying only one-third.
"I want to look into having a better balance," Errington said.
While Oliver said he would also like to lessen the cost for students, he would like to encourage students to graduate on time to drive cost down. He would also like to see alternative ways to gain credits, like testing a student's competency. He said having the state pay for a larger percentage of tuition is just spreading the burden to the taxpayers.
"At the end of the day, someone has to take up the cost," Oliver said. "I look forward to exploring innovative new ideas on how to make college degrees more affordable."
Scheele stressed the importance of the election happening before a budget year in the legislature. The House of Representatives is responsible for the first draft of the Indiana budget.
"The person that represents Muncie will have a chance to have input in the very first version, and that's a very important step," Scheele said. "I think it's very important that the person elected here from Muncie will be able to stand up not just for K-12 education but also higher education."
Both candidates have ties to Ball State. Errington taught Spanish and Oliver received three degrees from the university.
"I think Ball State is doing a great job being on the cutting edge of innovation. I just want to make sure we continue to do that," Oliver said. "I want to make sure they have the resources to continue to do that."
Both candidates said they are looking forward to discussing their viewpoints with the Muncie community in order to better inform voters.
"It's a chance to really see Errington and Oliver explain their views about the budget process," Scheele said. "There's a lot of other issues facing the state as well that they'll have a lot of input in."
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