Indiana's 9th Congressional District voters have four choices in the Nov. 3 general election.
Republican incumbent Erin Houchin is seeking another term against Democrat Brad Meyer, Libertarian Tonya Hudson and independent write-in candidate Floyd Taylor.
The district covers much of southern Indiana, stretching from Bloomington south to the Ohio River.
WFIU/WTIU News reporter Clayton Baumgarth spoke with each candidate about affordability, health care, immigration, energy, agriculture and other issues facing the district.
See the interview with Erin Houchin here.
See the interview with Brad Meyer here.
See the interview with Tonya Hudson here.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Clayton Baumgarth: Why are you running for Congress, and what do you think the 9th District needs from its representative that it isn't getting right now?
Floyd Taylor: I'm running for Congress because the 9th District needs representation right now. They don't have it. They have representation of the party, but they don't have representation of the people. The representative is supposed to represent the people, not the party, and I'm here to represent the people.
Baumgarth: What's the biggest affordability problem facing people in southern Indiana, and what specifically can Congress do about it?
Taylor: Personally, I find that the biggest affordability problem is medical costs. I am a two-time cancer survivor, so I know that the cost of health care is skyrocketing, and nobody can afford it. You shouldn't have to go bankrupt to pay for it.
I've written a bill specifically to address that. It covers health care for everyone. It repeals the ACA, gives the insurance companies a seat at the table and gives everybody health care.
Baumgarth: What should the federal government's role be in health care, particularly in rural communities where hospitals, EMS and other services are struggling?
Taylor: I wrote a rural health care bill that specifically provides health care for rural areas with mobile clinics, so you don't have to drive 20 minutes to get weighed and measured. They'll actually come out to your town and maybe park at the post office, and you can see a specialist, get telemedicine — things that you couldn't normally get in your town or things that you'd have to drive two hours for.
Baumgarth: What should Congress do about immigration and border security, and where do you think the current system is failing?
Taylor: I think there is a place for border security. I think we should have border security, and the current system isn't failing as much as it's not being enforced correctly.
It's my understanding that under previous presidents, more people were actually deported and more criminals were deported than under the current administration. That's something that could be fixed.
Baumgarth: What should U.S. energy policy look like? How do you balance reliability and affordability with growing demand and environmental concerns?
Taylor: You're going to get tired of hearing this, but I wrote a bill for that. It's a local energy generation bill where communities could put up whatever kind of energy systems they want, and they can't get pushback from the local utilities or the government except for compliance.
If you own a farm and have a biomass system, you should be able to grid-tie it into your community. Solar, wind, whatever you want, it should be easily able to be done.
Baumgarth: Tariffs have become a major issue for Indiana manufacturers and farmers. When do you believe tariffs are appropriate, and what would you change about current U.S. trade policy?
Taylor: I'm not really sure when tariffs are appropriate. When anybody says tariffs, I think, "Bueller, Bueller." There are lots of government policies that are not particularly correct, and I'm not sure exactly how to deal with tariffs. I'm not a financial major.
Baumgarth: The 9th District is largely rural. What should Congress do to support farmers and rural communities?
Taylor: The rural communities in the 9th District are being pretty much ignored because they can be. They don't show up. They always vote the same, and they really have no representation.
The first thing you do to support rural communities is actually listen to rural communities, and that's my whole campaign. I listen to everybody.
Baumgarth: What's your position on abortion, and what role, if any, should Congress play in setting abortion policy nationally?
Taylor: Abortion's a medical issue. The health care bill I wrote covers any medical procedure your doctor recommends. Beyond that, I really don't think government should be involved in it.
There are some ethical things you'll have to discuss between you and your God, but it's not my place to decide.
Baumgarth: What federal gun laws would you support or oppose?
Taylor: I wrote a Second Amendment Act that basically says you have to get a fair hearing in a limited time if somebody is trying to mess with your gun rights.
If somebody tries to take away your guns or restrict your access to guns, you have a right to a fair and speedy hearing on that issue.
Baumgarth: What should America's role be in ongoing conflicts overseas, and when should the United States provide military or financial support to other countries?
Taylor: I really don't think the United States should provide support. Humanitarian support, sure. Military support, if the cause is just and we believe that, then we should. But there aren't a lot of cases where we can define that and say this is 100 percent just and we believe that it's right.
Baumgarth: Congress has repeatedly struggled with deficits, shutdown threats and passing budgets on time. What would you be willing to compromise on to make Congress function better?
Taylor: If five independents get elected to Congress, they can't close it down anymore. I've even written a bill which prevents the government from closing down in its entirety. They just can't do it. It's no longer a bargaining chip.
But if five independents were elected, they'd have to come to the independents to shut things down.
Baumgarth: What's something that sets you apart from the two major national parties?
Taylor: The thing that I disagree with most from the two major national parties is the parties themselves.
I want to represent the people. I want to do what the people say based directly on their voice — what I call direct representation. I'm not going to go out and say, "I believe this, I believe that," and then spend the next year voting that way.
I'm going to say, "What do you believe?" And I'll do what the people tell me, because what I want to do and what the people want to do may be vastly different things. They're not electing somebody to just tell them what to do. I believe they're trying to elect somebody who will do what they tell them.
Baumgarth: If elected, what's one specific piece of legislation or policy you'd try to accomplish during your first year?
Taylor: The health care bill seems to be one of the more important ones, and everybody seems to agree that they need health care and that it's not adequate now.
My bill eliminates the ACA, which makes the Republicans happy; it covers everyone, which makes the Democrats happy; and it gives the insurance companies a seat at the table, which makes the lobbyists happy.
If I manage to get them all passed, I'll probably need Kevlar underwear.
Baumgarth: What experience or qualifications do you have that make you prepared to represent the district in Congress?
Taylor: Politically, I have no experience, but technically, I'm a fixer. I fix problems. That's what I do for a living. I fix other people's problems, and that's what makes me qualified because we have plenty of problems that need to be fixed.
Baumgarth: What do you do professionally?
Taylor: I do IT.
Baumgarth: Why should someone who doesn't normally vote for independent candidates consider voting for you?
Taylor: The independent voting bloc is the largest voting bloc in the 9th District. A lot of independents go in and push the red button, and a lot of them go in and push the blue button. But the independent bloc is the largest voting bloc, and if they vote for me, something might actually change.
Baumgarth: You're running as a write-in candidate. How did you end up taking that route?
Taylor: I was totally unprepared. I had no clue what I was doing. I looked up all the regulations pretty much the month I decided I was going to run, and it turns out that I needed 4,500 verified signatures.
That was just not going to happen. I work a full-time job, so I just went for a write-in. There's no requirement except you file with the Secretary of State, and that's what I did. But yeah, it's totally an uphill battle.
Baumgarth: Have you run for office previously?
Taylor: I ran for an office back in the '80s. It required four write-in votes for me to actually win. I know four people, so it wasn't too much of a stretch.
Baumgarth: You're working full time in IT and don't have much political experience. What made you decide you needed to run for Congress?
Taylor: The number one thing that made me run was being ignored. I try to contact my representative. I try to contact my senators, and all I get is a form letter. I never get any real response.
They don't care what I have to say, and I thought I could fix that. That one thing I can fix, and that's what made me decide to run.
Baumgarth: Is there anything else you think voters should know before the election?
Taylor: The only thought I've had recently is that we all know who's going to win the race. It's been decided already. The calculations have been made. The district has been gerrymandered, and they know that the Democratic candidate is going to get this percentage of votes, the Republican candidate is going to get this percentage of votes, and the Libertarian candidate is going to get this percentage of votes. It's all been calculated.
They know in Indy. They know in D.C. This is what's considered a safe district, and if everybody does exactly what they're expected to do, then they'll be right, and we know who will win under that situation.
Now, if nobody likes to be told what to do or do exactly what they're expected to do, then maybe the outcome will change. But right now, we all know the outcome of this race.
