U.S. Senate candidates agree to televised debate April 18

The Indiana Debate Commission will conduct a televised Republican primary debate between U.S. Senate candidates Marlin Stutzman and Todd Young on April 18. An agreement with the candidates was reached Friday.

The one-hour debate will be broadcast from a studio at public television station WFYI in Indianapolis beginning at 7 p.m. EDT. A live feed of the telecast will be made available to television stations statewide.

Voters have the opportunity to submit questions that will be considered for the debate. Questions can be submitted through the IDC’s website at www.indianadebatecommission.com beginning Monday.

“We have taken questions from the public ever since our organization’s first round of debates in 2008, and we are continuing that custom in this debate,” said IDC President Dan Byron, a founding board member. “We strongly believe in our motto of Putting Voters First. We want to know what voters consider to be important issues that candidates should address.”

The moderator will be Elizabeth Bennion, a professor of political science at Indiana University South Bend. Bennion hosts the weekly television show “Politically Speaking” on WNIT, the local public broadcasting station.

Stutzman has been the U.S. representative for Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District since 2010. Young has served in the U.S. House since 2011 as representative of Indiana’s 9th Congressional District. They are vying for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Dan Coats, also a Republican. The winner of the primary will go on to the general election in November.