Tonight: 9th District candidates to debate science and environment issues

BLOOMINGTON — Voters in Indiana’s 9th Congressional District will have a chance Tuesday evening to hear from five candidates during a public forum focused on science, technology and environmental policy, though the event comes at the same time as a high-stakes Monroe County Council meeting over the proposed new jail site.

The Candidate Forum on Science, Technology, and the Environment is scheduled for 5:15 to 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at the Monroe County Public Library’s Downtown Branch auditorium. Organizers said all candidates in the 9th District race were invited, including incumbent U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., but Houchin was unable to attend.

According to organizers, the forum will feature Jim Graham, Brad Meyer, Tim Peck and Keil Roark, all Democrats, along with Floyd Taylor, listed as an independent.

The event is being organized by Concerned Scientists @ IU and co-sponsored by Advocates for Science @ IU, the League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County, Citizens’ Climate Lobby of South Central Indiana, and the Green Sanctuary Task Force of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington.

Organizers said the forum will focus on issues including artificial intelligence and data centers, climate change and energy, air and water quality, health policy, and federal research funding. The event is free and open to the public.

For those unable to attend in person, organizers said the forum will be livestreamed on the Advocates for Science @ IU YouTube channel. Organizers were also discussing whether the video would remain available afterward.

The forum lands in direct conflict with a 5 p.m. Monroe County Council meeting expected to draw major public attention as county officials continue to battle over plans for a new jail and justice center. That dispute, fueled in part by an ongoing federal court case over jail conditions, has become one of the most contentious local government issues in Bloomington and Monroe County.

The scheduling overlap could split the audience for both events, particularly among politically engaged residents already following the local fight over whether a new criminal justice complex should be built outside Bloomington city limits.

Early voting in Indiana’s May 5 primary began April 7.

Live link beginning at 5:15 pm:

https://www.youtube.com/@AdvocatesforScienceatIU

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