Three candidates have their eyes set on Congress, hoping to represent Indiana’s Ninth District, and all three have different views about how the government should tackle issues such as the economy and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Republican Rep. Trey Hollingsworth is seeking a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is challenged by Libertarian Tonya Millis and Democrat Andy Ruff.
Indiana’s Ninth District encompasses Johnson County, Bloomington and several southern Indiana counties surrounding Louisville. Congress members draft and vote on federal policies and bring the perspectives of the states they represent when considering legislation in Washington, D.C.. Congress members split their time between Washington and their home states.
<strong>Hollingsworth says he would bring back economy</strong>
Hollingsworth, who lives in Jeffersonville, was first elected to the U.S. House in 2016. He owns Hollingsworth Capital Partners, a Tennessee-based industrial real estate company. Some of his platforms include supporting business growth and access to affordable housing, and he is an advocate for term limits in Congress, to which he promised to serve no more than four terms in his current seat.
One of his top priorities, if reelected, is to continue to fight against the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected millions of Americans, including Hollingsworth himself. Congress has already taken "unprecedented" steps to fight the pandemic, and Hollingsworth wants to continue to focus on funding vaccine research and providing loans to struggling small businesses, he said.
"I want to make sure we continue to invest in our communities throughout the course of this, to make sure every Hoosier and every American can see the other side of this pandemic and also get their financial footing back," Hollingsworth said.
Hollingsworth also wants to bring back America’s "booming" economy. He applauded Hoosier and American resiliency for bouncing back and adjusting amid the pandemic, but the country still has a ways to go, he said. Hollingsworth wants to create a targeted plan to bring the unemployment rate down by helping industries that are struggling the most, he said.
<strong>Millis wants to diversify Congress</strong>
A lifelong Hoosier, Millis lives in Lawrence County, where she works as a realtor. Before that, she worked in insurance and at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. Her platforms include the "Three R’s" — rolling back rules, regulations and runaway debt. Her plan, if elected, is to fight for balanced budgets in Congress.
This is Millis’s first time running for elected office. She felt compelled to serve after watching Americans’ "freedoms and liberties slowly whittled away." Congress is a mess with two broken parties in charge, she said.
As the country continues to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, Millis believes much of the decision-making should be left to the states. Congress’s job should be to inform the American people about the virus, she said.
"Usually, when Congress gets involved, they have a tendency to muck it up," Millis said.
<strong>Ruff focused on ‘ordinary people,’ health care</strong>
A Bloomington native, Ruff has lived in Indiana his entire life. He was a public school teacher and now works at Indiana University. He gained political experience serving five terms on the Bloomington City Council. His priorities include: public education reform; getting “big business out of politics;” and supporting universal health care. His top priority is to connect with “ordinary” Hoosiers in his district by listening to their concerns and being available for more face-to-face time.
Ruff said he would also work to create a universal health care system, or Medicare for all. Eliminating the private health care system will make medical services cheaper for Americans, Ruff said. By eliminating the extra costs of paying CEOs’ administrative fees and other "bloated" profits, the system would cost taxpayers less, he said.
But the health care issue and other issues, such as public school funding, can’t be solved until money is taken out of politics, he said.
"Not only does money buy elections, it buys access to elected officials once they’re in office," Ruff said. "Those special interests powerfully connected are always going to get in the way of policies that benefit the broad majority, but not the corporate interests."
<strong>ABOUT THE JOB</strong>
<strong>U.S. Representative Indiana District 9</strong>
Duties: Approve the federal budget and propose and approve federal laws
Term: 2 years
Pay: $174,000 annually
