The League of Women Voters of Brown County chose the questions to ask the candidates in each race and sent questionnaires to each candidate who has opposition in the primary.
Other candidates will be questioned before the November general election.
Answers appear in the candidates’ own words. Some answers were trimmed to stay within the 150-word limit.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization.
1. Please describe the occupations, education/training and experience that qualify you for this office.
D. Liam Dorris (D): Education: Vocational military, metrology/calibration school. Career/occupation: metrology technician. My background is metrology, the science of measurement. It’s a helpful background to have when talking about instrumentation meant to measure climate change. It’s important to talk about the accuracy and traceability of instrumentation being used to measure temperature; while instrumentation of today is outstanding, we know how it compares to instrumentation used since we started recording and tracking global temperatures.
Brandon Hood (D): Education: Ivy Tech, dropped out to start first business. Career/occupation: Independent contractor, home renovations. My experience as a working-class person, living paycheck to paycheck, qualifies me to represent the working people of this district. As a contractor, I’ve learned to prepare for all possibilities, including the unknown. I know I have a lot to learn in my new role.
James C. O’Gahbann III (D): Birthplace, 1-18 years: Tipton County, Indiana. Education: B.A. in philosophy, California State University, Los Angeles; M.S. in health care management, CSULA, Los Angeles; in addition, non-degree: Case Western Reserve University Ph.D program, organizational behavior; University of California, Los Angeles, undergraduate studies; California and Washington State community colleges, undergraduate studies/professional development. Career/occupation: K-12 teacher, Los Angeles Unified School District. I have a breadth of geographical experience that is uncommon to a political office seeker that includes a rural background which includes a farm background in one of the most rural areas in Indiana, Hopi Tribe Indian Reservation and an urban environment in the City of Los Angeles. I am a teacher for LAUSD. Capitol Hill would be better served with more teachers and those with a rural background. Teachers and other professions are now being crowded out by lawyers and lobbyists.
Mark J. Powell (D): Education: St. Ambrose University, B.A. (cum laude), political science, Class of 1980, North American College, Vatican City State, Europe, 1980-1981. Christian Theological Seminary, Master of Divinity, Class of 2008. Career/occupation: radio broadcaster, legislative aide, ordained and rostered Lutheran pastor. In assisting state legislators in both the Kansas and Michigan Houses of Representatives, especially as chief of staff to the associate House speaker in Lansing, I know how the sausage is made. As a radio broadcaster, I have pledged, if elected, to host a Saturday radio/internet call-in show on a three-station network in the district. Finally, as a pastor, I have dealt with confidential and sensitive matters.”
Andy Ruff (D): Education: Cornell University, B.S. in natural resource Management, 1987; Indiana University, SPEA Master of Public Affairs, 2007. Career/occupation: Former Bloomington City Council member; academic advisor, College of Arts & Sciences, Indiana University. My 20 years as an elected City of Bloomington council member, including multiple terms as president, have provided tremendous experience building policies that improve the lives of ordinary Hoosiers. My education in natural resources management at Cornell and Indiana University has given me a deep understanding of the complexities and vulnerabilities of our natural world, set me on the path to becoming a lifelong environmentalist, and provided the tools to analyze complex policy issues and reach workable solutions.
Trey Hollingsworth (R): Before serving in Congress, I was a small-business owner in the real estate and manufacturing sectors. In business, I found myself constantly frustrated by the roadblocks created by our federal government, demonstrating those who wrote these laws and regulations never actually had to feel their burden. Now in Congress, I have mobilized that experience into better outcomes for hardworking Hoosiers. In business, I saw that the American worker is the most productive worker across the globe. In Congress, my mission is to empower every American to be able to live their American Dream. That includes ensuring our country’s economic regulations allow our workers and companies to operate on a level playing field with our global competitors, empowering families through a sensible tax code that allows Hoosiers to keep more hard-earned dollars, and assuring businesses of all sizes can grow and succeed, improve American lives, boost the economy, and make us all better off.
2. Why are you running for this office?
Dorris: I was compelled to run. There has never been a more important time to be involved in the process. As a member of the working class, I see people who have good jobs and insurance not be able to afford their medical bills due to high co-payments and deductibles.
Hood: I’m running to give working people a voice in Congress from this district, because taking care of American communities is somebody’s day job and it’s not getting done.
O’Gahbann: I am running to reestablish an alliance between farm and labor in Indiana that was common in the Midwest 60 years ago. I would also be an architect with farm root organizations for a Rural New Deal. The deal would include affordable health care, public education, and public expenditures on carbon-free infrastructures that would provoke private/public partnerships to create social meaning employment in our rural areas. High-speed internet service for our youth and rural schools must be a given.
Powell: I was a vocal opponent to the GOP leadership last spring when officials gave Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper, who pleaded guilty to beating his fiancée, a slap on the wrist. What the state GOP leadership did last year was unjust to every woman that has suffered domestic abuse. When I was calling for Prosecutor Cooper to resign in April after pleading guilty to three felonies, Mr. Hollingsworth was silent. After pleading guilty to three felonies in April, Cooper stayed in office until mid-July. Those who serve in Congress need to lead, not cower. I was also offended by the way the Democratic Party leadership, in particular, Party Chair John Zody, did nothing to call for Cooper’s resignation. My mother suffered domestic violence from her first husband before I was born, but the horror of it lasted her entire lifetime. Leaders need to lead on BOTH SIDES of the aisle.
Ruff: The 9th District is being poorly served. Unlike its current representative, I am a lifelong Hoosier with a decades-long political track record of working selflessly to benefit the residents of our district and the people of our state. As your U.S. congressman, I will work with the same tireless devotion to improving the lives of 9th District residents that I have provided as a counselor, educator and civic leader for over 20 years. The people who live in Brown County deserve no less.
Hollingsworth: I am running to continue representing all of us because for too long, Congress has been filled with career politicians who have spent their lives in politics, not in a real job. Dealing with the federal government and their burdensome and confusing regulations as a business owner working hard to succeed, hire and grow the economy inspired me to run for Congress and fight for an economy that empowers hardworking Americans. I want to see a government that is run by the people and for the people — not politicians’ own self interests. You should come first. You deserve a real representative, not a career politician. I signed a term limits promise to Hoosiers that I won’t serve in the House more than four terms. I am working for you, not for Washington, not for party leadership, not for a future in politics. Serving you, your family and your future is my priority.
3. What are your top three priorities in state government?
Dorris: My top three priorities are federal, and they are: anti-corruption via the 28th Amendment, Medicare for All, and the Green New Deal.
Hood: Pay raises for teachers; commonsense workplace accommodations for expecting mothers; and urgently repair and remove dangerous, aging and obsolete infrastructure.
O’Gahbann: My top three national goals are: climate change, climate change, climate change. Governance issues would be: Eliminating the electoral college; controls on state gerrymandering by having independent citizen commission — similar to Arizona, but stronger — to draw the lines every 10 years; public financing of elections; federal standards for consistent rules of conduct of elections at the state and local, adding to those high standards specific to the locale; and ending voter suppression, especially among our most vulnerable populations.
Powell: 1. Elect a Christian Democratic governor. 2. Elect a Christian Democratic State House. 3. Elect a Christian Democratic State Senate within the next decade.
Ruff: N/A.
Hollingsworth: A U.S. representative deals solely with federal laws, not state laws. In Congress, I am a strong advocate for updating federal laws to empower states and Hoosiers to make decisions for themselves and their communities. The federal government doesn’t know what is best for us; we do. Many of the bills I have written originated right here at home, such as the Yes In My Backyard Act, which encourages federal and local governments to increase access to affordable housing. I also introduced the POLICE Act, which I wrote with the Floyd County sheriff, which would update federal law so our local law enforcement officers here in Indiana can better protect themselves and all of us. No matter the issue, I always want to hear what matters most to you. I host countless roundtables, town halls, meetings, and call hundreds of Hoosiers a week to make sure your voice and values are heard in Washington.
4. What are your top three priorities for Indiana’s 9th District?
Dorris: Same as above.
Hood: Municipalities decriminalize Schedule 1 narcotics. Build a state-of-the-art drug treatment/education network. Regional public transit that gives rural residents access to jobs/opportunities available in towns and cities.
O’Gahbann: For the 9th Congressional District, I will ensure EPA monitoring of private water wells and other environmental issues that contribute to the health of the community rather than sickness caused by runoff from chemical companies. (I refuse to take any form of political contribution from chemical companies.) Another issue is to narrow the income inequality that is most pronounced in the 9th, I believe more so than any other area of rural Indiana. To labor toward the goal for affordable health care including drug addiction and mental health services to the 9th. Finally, to find matches between farmers and markets on the local level and the international/global level.
Powell: 1. We need a U.S. Representative to Congress that REPRESENTS. As your next congressman, I will schedule town halls, I will meet with our town officials from Greenwood to Jeffersonville, I will host a no-holds-barred weekly talk show, and I will give every citizen my cell phone number. 2. You will have the ability to contact my office 24/7/365. Your concerns don’t pop up between 9 and 5 Monday through Friday. I will have staff on call weekends for your concerns. 3. I will call families who have lost a loved one and attend funerals when I can. As a hospice chaplain for many years, I know how important it is to pay condolences.
Ruff: My top priorities are simple and apply to the whole country as well as the 9th District: 1. Returning this country to the people by ending the stranglehold wealth and privilege have over our government. I strongly support legislation such as H.R. 1, the For the People Act, which addresses money in politics, gerrymandering and voter suppression. 2. Building an economy that works for all, including healthcare reform that delivers high-quality, affordable care that further spurs economic well-being. 3. Rescue this poor planet for the sake of our children and grandchildren. It’s a tall order, but together, we can do all of this and more!
Hollingsworth: My biggest priority is reforming government. I have led a lobbying ban for members of Congress and an effort to create congressional term limits. Politicians must live under the laws they pass for the rest of us. I believe term limits will help return our government to one of the people, for the people. The No. 1 issue I hear from businesses across the state is that they are struggling to fill their open, high-skilled jobs to keep up with demand. Promoting and providing resources for schools and employers for workforce training is a priority, enabling Hoosiers to increase their pay and brighten their families’ future. Last but not least, we have to stop the overspending in Washington. We are $23 trillion in debt, and the burden of that debt is going right to our children, grandchildren and their children. Your tax dollars should be spent in a way that reflects your values.
