TERRE HAUTE — A former Terre Haute city councilman is hoping to unseat a 12-year incumbent for the District 43 seat in the Indiana House of Representatives.
The district largely encompasses Terre Haute and Seelyville in Vigo County and Staunton in western Clay County.
Republican Ryan Cummins, 52, advocates limited government, allowing people “to pursue their own life largely using their own money.” Democrat Rep. Clyde Kersey, D-Terre Haute, a former Vigo County councilman, said “we need to use government to lay a foundation of support in all aspects of our society.”
On education, Cummins favors free choice of schools and school vouchers as well as advocating tax credits. Kersey, 70, a retired high school teacher, opposes vouchers. On economic development, Kersey says government can encourage business growth, such as helping a medical research partnership at Indiana State University. Cummins, co-owner of the Apple House, a Terre Haute lawn and garden business, said government cannot create jobs, only encourage private investment.
Both candidates would support a state constitutional amendment for property tax caps in the 2009 Indiana General Assembly and both support a measure to use voting centers for future elections to encourage more voters to cast a ballot.
“I do believe that freedom of choice in education is fundamental,” Cummins said, adding that vouchers are one possibility to strengthen education.
“Another very good way is tax credits, which avoids a problem [of vouchers] that a lot of folks have with taking tax dollars that have been collected by the government and handing it to religious schools or to a school that might teach something that some folks vigorously disagree with and don’t want their money going to support,” he said.
“Tax credits, either individual or a business, pay taxes to fund education. [Taxpayers] can claim a direct credit against taxes owed if they use that money for education of choice. In other words, it is money that never makes it to the government that provides that choice and competition in education,” Cummins said.
He also advocates for the use of weighted student formula, where dollars follow a student to a school they attend, rather than money given to a school corporation based on the number of children enrolled. The formula uses an accounting system focused on results, instead of programs or activities.
“Freedom of choice, competition, the government not picking winners and losers applies just as much to the field of education as it does to anything else,” Cummins said.
“I am opposed to vouchers,” Kersey said. “School vouchers would destroy the public school system, because I think that we have good schools and some not so good, and I think students would tend to gravitate toward the good schools and schools not as good would really suffer.
“I think we have a good public education system right now; great teachers who are professional. They know what they are doing and I think if anything, we should get out of the classroom and let them teach,” Kersey said.
Kersey said a big concern for education in Indiana will be funding schools, especially in 2010, when property tax caps are fully implemented. House Enrolled Act 1001, passed in March, provides a local option income tax to raise additional revenue for city, town and county budgets. That option may need to be extended to school corporations, Kersey said.
Kersey said for higher education, he would support a provision from Gov. Mitch Daniels to use lottery revenue to back a $1 billion bond, using that to pay two years of college tuition for students whose parents make less than $60,000 a year.
“I like that because these are students who are probably potential dropouts and from families who have never gone to college,” Kersey said. “I think these are the ones who need that incentive to keep going, and also it will provide an incentive for the parents, because they will be interested in encouraging the student to go on and graduate because of the opportunity to go to college.”
Kersey said he is working on a partnership among Indiana State University, Indiana University School of Medicine and the Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health. The idea is to focus on medical research.
“We are trying to get $4.5 million in this [upcoming] session to provide for an engineering planning study for a new building on the north side of [ISU’s] campus. It will be a new college — the college of nursing, health and human resources. It will be part of the rural health innovation corridor, with this building being the southern anchor and the Lugar Center being the northern anchor,” Kersey said.
“That new building will house nursing, sports medicine and Indiana University’s medical school. Also, IU has a medical research program at ISU and that would house that as well,” he said.
“We are trying to address the shortage of doctors in the rural areas. Indiana ranks 42nd in the state in terms of doctors per population. We are hoping that [research corridor] will spur economic development,” Kersey said. “It would be a revitalization of that area, plus be economic development as companies move into support services for what is going on” for new medical research.
Cummins said government’s role is to create an environment for private investment.
“I do have a substantially different view than a lot of folks who hold political office, believing they can pick and choose and give a subsidy to this group and give a favorable tax consideration to the other group, which causes a negative tax consequence to a much larger group of citizens. That, I think, achieves the opposite of what most people are looking for in economic development,” Cummins said.
“Everybody, regardless of party, is generally working toward the same end, which is prosperity and opportunity for themselves and the next generation. It is how that is accomplished is what is the most important thing. When it comes to economic development, most important is what works and what doesn’t.
“What works is individual freedom to do what you like to do with your own money and own life. That, historically, using common sense, is what works,” Cummins said. “Government interference and government interventions almost uniformly have almost always delayed, inhibited or destroyed that prosperity and opportunity that we are all searching for.
“I would seek to remove government interference and allow people’s individual creative energy to create that opportunity,” he said.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
Election 2008
October 4, 2008
ELECTION '08: Indiana House District 43
- Election 2008
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Vigo County election results
More than 44,000 ballots were cast Tuesday of the nearly 80,000 registered voters, giving Vigo County a 55.76 percent voter turnout. Voters who cast provisional ballots have until noon Nov. 14 to show proper identification in the clerk’s office. Members of the Election Board will certify the results by the end of Nov. 14.
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Obama triumphs, will be first black U.S. president
Barack Obama swept to victory as the nation’s first black president Tuesday night in an electoral college landslide that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself. “Change has come,” he told a huge throng of jubilant supporters.
- Ellsworth downs Goode in District 8 In a strong Democratic election year, U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth was re-elected Tuesday to a second term as the 8th District congressman representing southwestern and western Indiana.
- House District 44: Former Greencastle major wins A former Greencastle mayor will head off to the Statehouse come January, and she said Tuesday night she’s ready to go.
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YOUTH VOTE: Sarah Scott students elect Obama, Daniels
Tribune-Star
Students and staff at Sarah Scott Middle School voted to make Barack Obama president and Mitch Daniels governor during a mock election Tuesday. - Vigo picks presidential winner again Vigo County voters chose Democrat Sen. Barack Obama as president, maintaining its status as a “bellwether” county, picking the winner in every presidential election since 1892 with only two exceptions.
- Harrison Township opts to keep assessor Voters in eight precincts in Harrison Township opted to retain a township assessor under a referendum vote on Tuesday’s election ballot. That’s was good news to Mick Love, who will retain his elected seat as Harrison Township assessor. The final tally on Public Question No. 1 was 6,587 for a “yes,” which would remove the office, to 9,506 for “no” which would retain the office.
- House District 46: Tincher pulls out win The race between Democrat incumbent Rep. Vern Tincher and Republican challenger Bob Heaton for the Indiana House District 46 seat went down to the wire Tuesday night, with Tincher pulling out a win.
- Republican Daniels wins 2nd term as Indiana governor Republican Mitch Daniels defeated former Democratic congresswoman Jill Long Thompson on Tuesday to win a second term as governor, but he may need a supply of olive branches to advance his agenda if Democrats retain control of the Indiana House.
- House District 45: Borders wins close race The Indiana House District 45 race between incumbent Republican Bruce Borders and Democrat Rick Marshall was too close to call for much of the evening Tuesday, with the final outcome apparent near midnight.
- House District 43: Kersey remains in seat Rep. Clyde Kersey, D-Terre Haute, will remain in the Indiana General Assembly for another two years, as the 12-year incumbent defeated Republican challenger Ryan Cummins for the House District 43 seat.
- Clay County's turnout one for record books Clay County’s voter turnout was one for the record books, officials said Tuesday evening.
- Parke County incumbents retain their seats Parke County incumbents retained their seats in Tuesday’s election. Republican County At-large Councilmen Dale Gerrish and John Pratt will be joined by fellow Republican J.B. Butler, a newcomer who received more votes than Gerrish and Pratt. The three GOP candidates won over the three Democrats in that race.
- Nearly 64 percent of registered Vermillion voters cast ballots Vermillion County voters turned out in big numbers Tuesday to hand victories to Democrats up and down the ballot. Nearly 64 percent of registered voters turned out in the mostly rural county, which includes the towns of Clinton and Newport.
- Sullivan County votes Repbulican in national election For the second time in its traditionally Democratic history, Sullivan County voted Republican in the national election. Overall, Democrats saw unexpected upsets, incumbent Republicans lost a few offices, and voter turnout here was exceptionally high, as expected.
- Indiana State students await impact of their votes Ashley Roce sat in the Cunningham Memorial Library eating pizza with her friends, waiting to see the impact of her first vote in a presidential election.
- Indiana transplants watch from east coast Indiana has done what couldn’t have been predicted in 2004: It has gone Blue — and by so doing, the Hoosier state has broken its 44-year tradition of being a Red state, and helped put a Democrat in the White House.
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Voter turnout in Clark County, Ill., highest it's ever been
Voter turnout in Clark County, Ill., was the largest it has ever been, but it wasn’t as high as County Clerk Bill Downey had hoped for.
- Presidential election turnout down in Edgar County Despite an increase in registered voters for Tuesday’s election, turnout was lower than the last presidential election in Edgar County, Ill.
- Incumbents easily win school board seats Three Vigo County School Board incumbents readily won re-election Tuesday. In District 1, Mel Burks and Jackie Lower retained their seats, defeating Larry Faulkner. In unofficial results, Lower had 24,321 votes, Burks, 19,253, and Faulkner, 11,383.
- Democratic Commissioner Mason gets another four years Vigo County voters on Tuesday returned Democratic Commissioner Paul Mason for an additional four-year term as one of the county’s top executive officials.
- Rader wins Vigo judge Superior Court Divisioin 5 The winner of Vigo County judge for Superior Court Division 5 is Dr. Michael Rader. With 23,636 votes, or 56 percent, Rader defeated Republican challenger Dan Kelly, who earned 18,216 votes, or 44 percent. Totals are unofficial results from the Vigo County Election office.
- Allsup defeats Royer in Vigo Recorder race In a night that was friendly to Democrats, Nancy Allsup won the office of Vigo County Recorder, defeating Republican Bruce Royer. Allsup, with 26,486 votes, or 65 percent, celebrated her victory Tuesday night with friends and family at the Paradise Pavilion in West Terre Haute.
- Mansard wins another term as Vigo County clerk Democrat Patricia “Pat” Mansard has won another term as Vigo County clerk. Mansard, who has served as county clerk for 20 years, was busily working Tuesday night to finish up election results, but she took a minute to savor her win.
- FINAL: VIGO COUNTY ELECTION 2008 RESULTS Final election night results from Vigo County
- FINAL: VERMILLION COUNTY ELECTION RESULTS 2008 Election results from Vermillion County
- FINAL: CLAY COUNTY ELECTION 2008 RESULTS Election results from across Clay County
- FINAL: PARKE COUNTY ELECTION 2008 RESULTS Election results from Parke County
- FINAL: SULLIVAN COUNTY ELECTION RESULTS 2008 Results from Sullivan County
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NEW: Vigo County’s election record cited by Karl Rove
Karl Rove, the man credited with orchestrating President George W. Bush’s two successful campaigns for the presidency, reportedly singled out Vigo County as a place to watch tonight when election returns start coming in.
- More Election 2008 Headlines
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