State Superintendent Candidate Debate Set For Oct. 24
The two candidates for Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction will debate less than two weeks before voters decide which of them will win the state’s top elected education post.
GOP incumbent Tony Bennett will debate Democratic challenger Glenda Ritz on October 24 at Wabash College’s Ball Theater, according to both the Ritz campaign and the League of Women Voters of Indiana.
Indianapolis Star columnist Matthew Tully, who embedded for a year as a reporter inside a troubled Indianapolis high school, will moderate the debate.
With less than one month until election day, November 6, it’s highly unlikely the candidates will meet for the total of 9 debates Ritz called for in early September.
The debate should provide a clear contrast between the two candidates as both are practically diametrically opposed on almost every key issue — A-F grading, school choice, standardized testing and teacher evaluations.
We’ll get a closer look at both Ritz’s and Bennett’s campaign war chests in the coming weeks when their campaigns’ quarterly financial reports are released. However, all indications point to Bennett vastly out-fundraising Ritz, who has relied on small donations and an infusion of cash from the state’s teachers unions to mount her electoral challenge.