Senate Candidate Coats Meets With Local Tea Party
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Senate Candidate Coats Meets With Local Tea Party
By Jennifer [email protected]
He fielded questions for 1-1/2 hours at Bennigan's, Warsaw, from 13 Tea Party leaders. The leaders represented groups from Kosciusko, Whitley, Noble and Wabash counties and Elkhart, South Bend and Mishawaka. Coats' wife, Marsha, also attended the meeting.
Senator Evan Bayh resigned and the general election to fill the seat is Nov. 2.
Coats (R-Fort Wayne), who previously served as Indiana's senator from 1989-1999, faces Democrat Brad Ellsworth, Evansville, in the Nov. 2 election.
Coats was elected as the Republican nominee during the May 4 primary, defeating Republican candidates Don Bates Jr., Richard Behney, John Hostettler and Marlin Stutzman.
The Coats campaign requested Thursday's meeting be a closed door meeting, closed to the media, however the campaign allowed the Times-Union to interview Coats following the meeting and take photos.
Monica Boyer, Kosciusko Silent No More founder, said she had contacted Coats' campaign several times over the past months to invite him to speak to the Tea Party groups.
"We wanted to have a heart-to-heart discussion about his beliefs on issues and wanted him to see who the Tea Party was and get to know him," Boyer said.
The group put together 14 questions and concerns they had prior to the meeting with Coats that he addressed Thursday.
The questions covered topics ranging from solutions to big government, the financial crisis and Coats' thoughts on the Tea Party group.
When Coats was asked what place the Tea Party and 912 groups play in his campaign and his purpose for meeting with Tea Party leaders, he said they are a vital group of people who are concerned about the future of the United States.
"They have stepped out of their businesses, homes, churches and neighborhoods to do something about their concerns, and I feel we are on the same page," Coats said.
Coats said his solution to government spending is to get to a constitutionally ordained balanced budget.
"Government spends way too much and at the particular time of economic stress, government needs to spend less, tax less and regulate less," Coats said.
Coats said to create jobs in Indiana instead of adding new massive federal programs that hire more public service workers, private businesses need incentives and credit made available to them.
Coats also addressed the topic of the financial crisis.
"I think we have a governor who understands finances and that we are in a tough time financially right now," Coats said. "The governor is taking steps by cutting government expenditures in Indianapolis by trying to give businesses incentives to come to Indiana."
Coats said Indiana is positioned as a state to attract businesses.
"People are put back to work when jobs are created, and when businesses are built it must be a business-friendly climate, not business antagonistic," Coats said.
Speaking nationally about the financial crisis, Coats said financial and insurance industries need to be supported.
"These are the companies and industries that make America what it is and produce jobs so we need to encourage them, not discourage them," Coats said.
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He fielded questions for 1-1/2 hours at Bennigan's, Warsaw, from 13 Tea Party leaders. The leaders represented groups from Kosciusko, Whitley, Noble and Wabash counties and Elkhart, South Bend and Mishawaka. Coats' wife, Marsha, also attended the meeting.
Senator Evan Bayh resigned and the general election to fill the seat is Nov. 2.
Coats (R-Fort Wayne), who previously served as Indiana's senator from 1989-1999, faces Democrat Brad Ellsworth, Evansville, in the Nov. 2 election.
Coats was elected as the Republican nominee during the May 4 primary, defeating Republican candidates Don Bates Jr., Richard Behney, John Hostettler and Marlin Stutzman.
The Coats campaign requested Thursday's meeting be a closed door meeting, closed to the media, however the campaign allowed the Times-Union to interview Coats following the meeting and take photos.
Monica Boyer, Kosciusko Silent No More founder, said she had contacted Coats' campaign several times over the past months to invite him to speak to the Tea Party groups.
"We wanted to have a heart-to-heart discussion about his beliefs on issues and wanted him to see who the Tea Party was and get to know him," Boyer said.
The group put together 14 questions and concerns they had prior to the meeting with Coats that he addressed Thursday.
The questions covered topics ranging from solutions to big government, the financial crisis and Coats' thoughts on the Tea Party group.
When Coats was asked what place the Tea Party and 912 groups play in his campaign and his purpose for meeting with Tea Party leaders, he said they are a vital group of people who are concerned about the future of the United States.
"They have stepped out of their businesses, homes, churches and neighborhoods to do something about their concerns, and I feel we are on the same page," Coats said.
Coats said his solution to government spending is to get to a constitutionally ordained balanced budget.
"Government spends way too much and at the particular time of economic stress, government needs to spend less, tax less and regulate less," Coats said.
Coats said to create jobs in Indiana instead of adding new massive federal programs that hire more public service workers, private businesses need incentives and credit made available to them.
Coats also addressed the topic of the financial crisis.
"I think we have a governor who understands finances and that we are in a tough time financially right now," Coats said. "The governor is taking steps by cutting government expenditures in Indianapolis by trying to give businesses incentives to come to Indiana."
Coats said Indiana is positioned as a state to attract businesses.
"People are put back to work when jobs are created, and when businesses are built it must be a business-friendly climate, not business antagonistic," Coats said.
Speaking nationally about the financial crisis, Coats said financial and insurance industries need to be supported.
"These are the companies and industries that make America what it is and produce jobs so we need to encourage them, not discourage them," Coats said.
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