Indiana's US Senate candidates discuss priorities if elected

As he heads into the final stretch of campaigning this election season, Senator Todd Young differs from most incumbent Republican Senate candidates in a distinct way.

Young is one of only a few who do not have the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

“Does that bother you?” 13News Reporter Emily Longnecker asked.

“I take pride in standing on my own feet, making judgements, not relying on others for my political capital,” Young said.

“I’ve made an argument that I am a grounded conservative. I live here in Indiana. I’m really connected to the needs, concerns, aspirations, challenges that everyday Hoosiers are feeling,” he continued.

Young has spent the last 12 years in Washington, the first six in the United States House of Representatives, the last six in the United States Senate.

13News asked Young why he wants to keep his job in a political landscape full of hyper-partisanship and animosity.

“Well, because it matters. It matters now more than, I think, at any point in my lifetime,” Young replied. “We’re facing a generational challenge, really a competition between systems between the United States and our allies and China,” Young continued.

With that in mind, Young touts the passage of The Chips and Science Act, a bi-partisan measure he helped champion that President Biden signed into law this past August.

It increases the amount of semi-conductor chips made in the United States.

Those are the chips found in many of our electronic devices – not to mention the United States’ radar systems and missiles.

Right now, more than half are made overseas.

“Critics have said it overspends and question if it could worsen inflation,” Longnecker commented.

“Well, there aren’t a lot of critics, but you are correct,” Young said.

“And if any are watching, this is a national security investment just as we invest in tanks or aircraft or other weapons systems, we also need to invest in the computer chips that help all these things run,” Young countered.

“But with respect to the other chips that you know, the brains that go into our cell phones and our automobiles and so forth, they are essential to a modern economy,” he added.

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Some of those chips will be made in Indiana.

Young hopes for the same kind of investment when it comes to addressing climate change.

“I think the best way to address this serious issue of climate change is through innovation. Similar to what I advocated doing in the Chips and Science Act, is the appropriate role for government to make investments in basic research that lead to incredible breakthroughs that then can help us innovate our way out of, you know, putting carbon into the atmosphere, that will create job opportunities for Hoosiers and other Americans to make those things that we invent,” Young said.

The incumbent United States Senator describes himself as a conservative who can work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

Young says it’s about balance, both in and out of politics.

“I try and branch outside of politics so that, so that I put things in perspective. You know?” said Young.

“People value their communities, their families, their sports teams and so many other things and we can become one-dimensional people if all we focus on is political life,” he added.

Libertarian candidate James Sceniak is no stranger to politics.

In the early 2000s, he volunteered on the campaigns of some Republican candidates, including the late Republican Congresswoman Jackie Walorski when she was running for a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives.

Sceniak’s friends like to tell a story about how, during a basketball game, he tried to dunk on an oppenent two feet taller than he was.

“Hoosiers love basketball and I love basketball,” Sceniak said, laughing.

It’s a story that reminds the 34-year-old Goshen native of his current bid for a seat in the United States Senate as Indiana’s Libertarian candidate.

“There’s a lot of uphill battles, but I believe as we continue to move our message, Hoosiers will recognize it and they’ll start to resonate and understand what libertarianism, the Libertarian Party is, as a whole, but also, who I am as a candidate,” Sceniak explained.

Currently, Sceniak works as a behavioral therapist with children on the autism spectrum.

“Why are you running for the United States Senate?” Longnecker asked Sceniak.

“I really believe that it’s time for the rhetoric of the very far left and the very far right to actually have a middle option and to present that to voters,” he said.

“I really wanted a strong voice at the top of the ticket that communicates the values of libertarianism, communicates those values of smaller government – but also looks at ways to, they come to the table for solutions for Hoosiers. And I felt I was the right voice this year for that,” Sceniak added.

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13News asked Sceniak what his top priority would be if he gets to Washington.

“Inflation is the number one right now because that’s what’s really hurting Hoosiers,” Sceniak replied.

“We have to have voices to say, ‘Look, we need a balanced budget in Washington, D.C. We need real solutions, and we need accountability on the spending front,’” Sceniak said. “And I didn’t see that coming from either party and I wanted to be that voice for Hoosiers to really represent our wallets. We work hard for our money in Indiana, and we need somebody to represent our money."

When it comes to another issue top of mind, Sceniak said he does not support a ban on abortion. He also considers himself pro-life.

“The way we reduce abortions is not by bans,” Sceniak said. “It’s looking at ways and why...why women are making these very difficult decisions. And I believe when we subsidize things like adoption, when we look at supporting our foster care, when we make contraception available over the counter – those are ways we naturally reduce abortions.”

Sceniak said he and his sister fostered two young children for over year.

“It really gave me a hands-on perspective as well as a heart for those kids. So that’s a story that I don’t get to tell a whole lot, but it’s really a passion of mine,” he explained.

So are the children Sceniak works with every day.

“The kids with autism, they don’t see the differences that we do,” Sceniak said. “They don’t look at your political agenda."

For his part, Sceniak said his agenda is about civil liberties and letting voters know they have more than two choices on election day.

“If we’re frustrated with the system and how Washington, D.C. is serving us, we have to think of different ways to represent us, and that’s voting differently sometimes and that’s looking for all your options on the ballot,” Sceniak explained.

“You may or may not want to vote for me, but at least educate yourself about all three candidates for the Senate race, and see which one aligns with your values best. I believe when we do that and we stop voting party lines, we will actually be much, much better represented in Washington, D.C.,” he added.

Tom McDermott's campaign slogan is just four words right under his picture on the McDermott for Senate website.

“All Hoosier, No bull----?” asked Longnecker.

“You could say that on TV?” McDermott asked.

No, you can’t. Not really.

Even if we bleeped part of it, Indiana’s Democratic candidate for United States Senate, Tom McDermott is just fine with voters knowing he’s comfortable saying it because the way McDermott sees it, it’s the truth.

“No bull---- is what you get with me,” McDermott said.

It’s the reason McDermott says he’s been re-elected for five terms as mayor of Hammond, serving 19 years as the longest serving mayor the city has ever had.

“Part of the reason my residents keep voting for me is I never sugarcoat what’s going on. I tell them honestly what’s going on,” Hammond said.

So, 13News sat down to ask him some questions ahead of Nov. 8 and ask him why he is running.

“I’m patriotic. I’m afraid for democracy. I’m afraid for your country. I believe in simpler times when somebody lost an election, they would call up the other side, wish that person well, and even though they may not mean it, it’s just what you’re supposed to do,” McDermott said. “And I’ve been in that position before myself, but I’ve never seen our country as divided as it is today.”

13News also asked what his top priorities would be if elected.

“I think November 8th is going to be a referendum on Roe versus Wade overturning, and that’s one thing I promised Hoosier women is – when I get to Washington, D.C. – I’m going to know why I got there. And I’m going to know what my marching orders are. My marching orders are to give Hoosier women back the rights they had just a couple months ago,” he said.

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Some of McDermott’s campaign ads are evidence of those plans, but reproductive rights isn't his only campaign message.

McDermott also supports legalizing marijuana for medicinal and recreational use and smoked a joint in a campaign ad, filmed in Illinois – where it’s legal.

“We should be making money off cannabis, jobs, economic development, you know? State of Illinois made more tax revenue off of cannabis last year than they did off alcohol and we’re a business state. We can do better,” McDermott said.

These past few months, the only road trips McDermott’s been taking have been around Indiana, campaigning.

“I’ve driven 70 thousand miles across the state,” he said.

That hasn’t given him much time to train for another triathlon. The last one he did was in July. McDermott compared training for one to running for the United States Senate.

“When I’m out there and, you know, it’s 95 degrees and I’m running six miles because I’m getting ready for the tri – you know that you’re doing it for a bigger goal,” he said.

The bigger goal this time involves more than crossing a finish line.

National pundits have said Indiana’s senate race isn’t a competitive one. Even so, McDermott doesn’t speak about if he goes to Washington – but when.

“When I get elected on November 8th, I know why. It’s because Hoosier women trust me,” McDermott said. “They banded together. They voted in record numbers, and the men that want to protect their wives or their daughters or their sisters, they go out and vote for candidates like me that want to support women’s reproductive rights.”