Progressive Indiana Network : https://www.progressiveindiana.net/
Moderator - Derrick Holder: https://www.progressiveindiana.net/s/hold-em-accountable
Candidates:
Sarah Blessing: Campaign Facebook
Jerry Finn: Campaign Facebook
Tamyra Persinger-Andres: Campaign Facebook
Three Democratic candidates for Indiana House District 70 debated economic security, agriculture, healthcare, education, and infrastructure in this primary debate. The discussion covered nine major policy areas: cost of living pressures on working families, preserving family farms against corporate agriculture, expanding healthcare access and protecting reproductive rights, strengthening public education funding, workforce development for emerging industries, public safety with mental health and addiction treatment, rural broadband expansion, Ohio River environmental protection, and data center development impacts. All three candidates opposed current Republican supermajority policies they say hurt working Hoosiers through tax breaks for corporations, inadequate school funding, lack of environmental protections, and deregulation of utilities that allowed data centers to shift infrastructure costs onto residents. The debate concluded with a “Hold ‘em or Fold ‘em” rapid-fire round where all three candidates unanimously supported seven progressive policies (rural broadband, addiction treatment funding, workforce training, family farm protection, local zoning control, and riverfront infrastructure investment), followed by closing statements.
BREAKDOWN:
00:02:16 - Opening Statements
• Tamyra: Retired teacher (31 years), realtor, small farm owner, community volunteer
• Sarah: Former 5th grade teacher, motivated by democracy concerns, co-founded Project Next Media
• Jerry: 7th generation on 1839 family farm, nonprofit executive, military veteran, focus on service
00:08:18 - Q1: Economic Security and Cost of Living
• Tamyra: Healthcare costs too high, tariffs hurting families, need transparency and tax relief
• Sarah: Giant bills with loopholes profit the powerful, need single-issue bills to stop damage
• Jerry: Childcare costs crushing families, small business loans critical for entrepreneurs
00:14:59 - Q2: Agriculture and Family Farms
• Sarah: Family farms closing, need to help small farmers not corporate agriculture
• Jerry: Family farms should be generational legacy, fuel/equipment costs crushing farmers
• Tamyra: Family farms contribute $35 billion, data centers draining infrastructure
00:21:22 - Q3: Healthcare Access and Healthy Indiana Plan
• Jerry: Adequate healthcare saves money, women’s health not given priority it deserves
• Tamyra: Expanding Hoosier HealthWise worth exploring, need to promote healthy lifestyles in schools
• Sarah: Harrison County lost OBGYN services, will work to expand coverage and restore rural OBGYN care
00:27:46 - Q4: Reproductive Rights and Government Role in Medical Decisions
• Tamyra: Government shouldn’t dictate healthcare or gender identity teaching, media promoting unfounded fears
• Sarah: Women control own bodies not government, trans community (1% of population) facing harmful lies
• Jerry: Government shouldn’t interfere with reproductive decisions, leaders given us license to hate
00:33:03 - Q5: Public Education Funding vs Vouchers and School Choice
• Sarah: Public tax dollars belong in public schools not vouchers, stop dictating and let professionals work
• Jerry: Education defines community, gave scholarships and classroom grants, great schools doing outstanding work
• Tamyra: Teachers spend $400-500 out of pocket annually, business world values employees more than education does
00:40:01 - Q6: Workforce Development and Emerging Technologies
• Jerry: Teachers preparing kids for careers that don’t exist yet, need to value and compensate educators
• Tamyra: Need stronger partnership between schools and business, fortunate to have Prosser for non-college track
• Sarah: Had best standards in 2003 but funding cut every year, teachers know how to prepare kids if funded
00:46:03 - Q7: Public Safety - Mental Health, Addiction, and Law Enforcement Balance
• Tamyra: First responders deserve support, police need mental health training, drug overdose epidemic needs resources
• Sarah: Help struggling people not arrest them, addiction treatment not incarceration, homelessness shouldn’t be crime
• Jerry: Can’t arrest way out of poverty/addiction/mental health, US jails more per capita than anywhere in world
00:51:54 - Q8: Rural Broadband Access
• Sarah: Internet is need not want, need competition for fair pricing, support libraries providing free internet
• Jerry: Fiber made all the difference, state has money and should invest, will attract remote workers
• Tamyra: State has $50 billion surplus, ridiculous that District 70 areas still lack internet in 2026
00:56:56 - Q9: Ohio River Environmental Protection vs Economic Development
• Jerry: Take care of earth first or nothing else matters, Republican supermajority ignoring pollution
• Tamyra: EPA regulations exist for reason, local communities need state support and grants
• Sarah: Republicans gutted regulations allowing toxic sludge dumping, need accountability and enforcement
01:02:26 - Q10: Data Center Development
• Tamyra: 90 data centers statewide, physical location of “the cloud,” draining water and energy from communities
• Sarah: Elected officials deregulated utilities so residents pay for data center infrastructure while getting few jobs
• Jerry: Can support technology if done smartly with proper regulations protecting citizens
01:08:25 - Hold ‘em or Fold ‘em Speed Round
All three supported: rural broadband expansion, addiction treatment funding, workforce training partnerships, family farm incentives, local zoning control, Ohio River infrastructure/protections, utility rate protections from data centers, refusing corporate donations, ballot referendums, and term limits (Sarah mixed on limits, Jerry mixed on pausing data center approvals)
01:12:42 - Closing Statements
• Jerry: Years of bipartisan collaboration, knows how to get things done, considers service sacred trust
• Sarah: Won’t give up fighting for Indiana, will work to convince Republicans, humans can be persuaded
• Tamyra: Faith guides decisions, legislators forgotten they represent people, need to listen and work together as team
