LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Indiana voters head to the polls on Tuesday for this year's primary election.
Republican Trey Hollingsworth isn't running for re-election for the 9th Congressional District seat, opening an opportunity for a new candidate to fill the position.
Nine Republicans and three Democrats are on the ballot, six of whom responded.
Mike Sodrel represented the district from 2005-07. He said his experience as a business owner, truck driver and military veteran gives him a unique perspective on strategies to decrease inflation.
"I've started a business, I've bought a business, and I think that that business background, plus the fact that I served in the military as well, helps a lot when you're looking at issues in Congress," Sodrel said.
Stu Barnes-Israel and Erin Houchin are also Republicans on the ballot.
Barnes-Israel is an Army veteran who transitioned into a business career. He said he fought for his country, and now he wants to fight for his home district in Washington, D.C.
"We need to fix our economy, we need to secure our border," Barnes-Israel said. "We need to make our communities safe. These are vitally important."
Houchin represented her county in the Indiana State Senate for several terms. She said she has a proven record of fighting for conservative values in southern Indiana.
"Fighting inflation and out of control spending," Houchin said. "Closing our border. It takes about 48 hours for fentanyl from the border to get to Indiana and it's crushing our communities. We have to secure the border. Energy independence, and election security."
Eric Schansberg, an economics professor, is also on the ballot. He wants to help the economy get back on track.
"I just want to freeze government spending," Schansberg said. "Let revenues grow through inflation, population, GDP growth. We can get the deficit under control fairly quickly, and more important, signal to lenders that we're serious about it."
On the Democratic side, two candidate responded to WDRB's interview requests.
Matt Fyfe is a union leader and school teacher. He said he wants Washington to help build a brighter future for children.
"If we can improve the health for our families, starting from when they're young, near, before, and after they're birthed, to when we're older, if we can make prescription drugs more affordable," Fyfe said. "If we can increase the access to health care. Those are kind of the three priorities that I view as this campaign, access to health care."
Isak Asare leads the cybersecurity and global policy program at Indiana University. He wants to help find the bipartisan solution.
"There are 50,000 people in this district who don't have healthcare, that don't have insurance," Asare said. "One in three adults in this district are forgoing getting treatments because they don't think they can afford it. So we need to do something to lower the cost of healthcare and increase access."
Polls are open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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