STATE SENATOR JIM TOMES REFUSES TO DEBATE CANDIDATE EDIE HARDCASTLE

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STATE SENATOR JIM TOMES REFUSES TO DEBATE CANDIDATE EDIE HARDCASTLE

Multiple Dates Offered, Tomes Declines to Participate   

EVANSVILLE, Indiana – Edie Hardcastle, Democratic candidate for state senate seat District 49, revealed today that her opponent, Republican incumbent Jim Tomes, refuses to participate in a televised debate jointly hosted by the Courier & Press and by WNIN.  He has refused despite being offered three potential dates: October 22nd, October 24th, and November 1st, , any of which Hardcastle has agreed to make herself available.

Hardcastle states: “The Courier & Press and WNIN have invited us both to debate the issues so the public can learn more about us and what we stand for, but Jim Tomes has refused all three opportunities.    I think Hoosiers need someone who is willing to stand up and answer questions about education, wages, and healthcare. What is he afraid of?”  A biology professor at USI, Hardcastle has dubbed her opponent “the gun guy,” because over the last eight years, he has authored legislation that has legalized switchblade knives and sawed-off shotguns, and now wants to put guns in the hands of our teachers.  

Indiana Democratic Party officials echoed Hardcastle’s dismay. John Zody, Chair of the Indiana Democratic Party, said, “This is happening all over Indiana.  Republican candidates are afraid to talk to voters about their record of trying to take away health care, voting rights, and doing nothing to make sure Hoosiers are protected equally or to address the issue of livable wages.” 

Scott Danks, Chair of the Vanderburgh County Democrats, said, “Tomes is refusing to debate because he’s afraid to defend his unpopular, radical ideas. If he’s afraid to stand up to Edie, how can we have confidence he’ll stand up to the other forty-nine State Senators on issues that are critical to his constituents?”

Hardcastle’s platform focuses on three issues: education, jobs, and energy.  She is a proponent of universal pre-K and supports fully funding public schools to improve educational outcomes and to address Indiana’s teacher shortage. She is also a strong proponent of raising the state-level minimum wage to reduce poverty and income inequality, increase economic activity, and encourage job growth. To strengthen District 49’s position as the “crossroads of America” and to attract big business to the area, Hardcastle will work to secure state funding for infrastructure repair, maintenance, and upgrades. And to create jobs, lower energy bills, and counteract pollution and climate change, she will advocate for investment in renewable energy sources.

Hardcastle  has also agreed to attend three other area candidate forums, the first hosted by Indivisible Evansville on Tuesday, September 18th (7:00 pm at Ivy Tech Auditorium), the second by the West Side Improvement Association on Thursday, September 20th (6:00 pm at Howell Park Shelter House), and third by the United Neighborhoods of Evansville on Thursday, September 27th (6:00 pm at the CK Newsome Center). The candidate forums precede the upcoming general election, which will be held on Tuesday, November 6th, 2018.

(District 49 is comprised of Posey County, five townships in Gibson County, and eight townships in Vanderburgh County.  Jim Tomes has held the District 49 seat since 2010.)

FOOTNOTE: For more information about the Edie Hardcastle, follow her on Facebook and Twitter at @Hardcastle2018, or on Instagram at @hardcastle2018.      

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11 COMMENTS

  1. I guess he needs a switchblade and a sawed off shotgun with him before he will debate. Heaven forbid someone not agree with him and write a letter saying so. What a chicken s&/t

  2. Tough talking Tomes is afraid to debate a girl. He’s out of his depth in the legislature and doesn’t want to further expose that sorry fact.

  3. The only radical here is Hardcastle. The minimum wage issue costs jobs and business’ to fail. Ask Seattle how this worked out for them.I am familiar with the “hits” on Tomes that the Courier has done over the last several years. The claims against him are unfounded. For instance he wanted the switchblade law changed because of the severe penalty for owning one. I own a gun for protection in my home, does that make me a radical who will not debate without my gun?
    Tomes is not a one issue (Guns) Senator. He has worked on and sponsored plenty of bills and issues. I wouldn’t be a sucker for the Courier Debate either if I were the alleged sworn enemy of the Courier as Tomes seems to be.

  4. Increse minimum wage? Let supply and demand take care of that. Because of demand for workers, wages are going up. Create jobs. Are you not aware of the jobs being created currently. Job growth has been off the charts since Obama. Full funding public schools? How about demanding results for all the money being funded to public schools. I would not debate either unless I had a neutral forum. C&P and Indivisible Evansville would not be neutral.

  5. Senator Tomes did NOT author a “sawed off shotgun” bill as many, including the Courier & Press, falsely reported. The bill referred to short barreled shotguns(SBS). When passed, this brought Indiana law inline with federal regulations.
    Since the Courier&Press has misquoted Senator Tomes, and falsely reported on his bills, one can certainly understand why he would not want to participate in a debate that is skewed in favor of his opponent.
    Furthermore, if you are bold enough to voice your opinion, be bold enough to include your own name.

  6. Is Edit Hardcastle president of Invisible Evansville? That would be reason enough not to debate in the arena.

  7. Has Ms.Hardcastle even looked at the body of work Senator Tomes did at the Statehouse?
    I don’t believe she has researched her opponent? All I am hearing is democratic socialist talking points.
    I’m sure Senator Tomes would love to debate her with a nonpartisan moderator.
    I don’t think she would agree to that though?

  8. If the esteemed opponent of Sen Tomes would like to debate, how about hosting it at the West Side Sportsman’s Club? The liberal media, like the Nazi propaganda machine of old, likes to take things out of context, concentrate only on their own agenda and ignore facts. Increasing the minimum wage has failed everywhere it has been forced on the population. It causes businesses to fail rather than encouraging new ones. As to ‘fully funding’ education, money is not the answer. Until we get parental responsibility back into schools, all the dollars in the world are not going to improve the outcome. Let’s tie government entitlements to education. If you children don’t perform in school, you lose some of your welfare. If your school property is vandalized within, you don’t get more money to waste fixing them up to be destroyed again. In other words if your students don’t care about getting an education – why should the tax payers?

  9. Melvin Dogan: I read your article about Senator Tomes not debating Edie Hardcastle. I did not read any where in the your article that Senator Tomes had been asked for a comment. It would seem to me that if you wanted to be fair you would have given Senator Tomes a chance to tell the public why he would not debate Edie Hardcastle at some of the places and dates in your article. I know that Senator Tomes and Ms. Hardcastle will meet at two of the locations in you article. For a moment I thought I was reading the Courier & Press, but at least the Courier & Press put Senator Tomes’s explanation in the first part of their article.

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