The Fishers City Hall Council Chambers were well over half full with voters Tuesday night for a forum featuring local candidates for seats in the Indiana General Assembly.  The League of Women voters sponsored the event.

Three different races were featured.  Republican Brian Bosma, Speaker of the House and incumbent in House District 88, faces Democratic challenger Poonam Gill.  In House District 37, incumbent Republican Todd Huston faces Democrat Aimee Rivera Cole.  In the Senate, Republican incumbent Jim Merritt is facing Democrat Derek Camp.  All six candidates were on hand for this forum.

Questions came from League of Women Voters moderator Janet Chandler and from written questions sumbitted from the audience.

The sharpest exchange between the candidates came when a question was asked about funding Planned Parenthood….the responses dealt with not just women’s health but also abortions.  Generally, the Democrats wanted women’s health programs to include abortion as a choice for women, and the Republicans all sided with the anti-abortion arguments on this question, although some expressed support of women’s health programs outside of abortion.

Many other issues were discussed, including school safety, support for public schools, state support of preschool, infrastructure, LGBT rights, Hate Crime laws and climate change.

Fishers and Hamilton County, based on election results going back many decades, are predominantly Republican areas.  However, a clear majority of those in the audience were Democrats.  The Hamilton County Democratic Party has said it plans to be much more active in local politics in the future.  This forum indicates they are following that strategy.

Janet Chandler asks a question of the candidates