By Emma Rausch
emma@thepaperofwabash.com
WABASH, Ind. – Representatives from two national campaigns stopped by Wabash last week to spread awareness and push for votes in the final weeks before Election Day, Nov. 8.
On Wednesday, Oct. 12, Susan Bayh, wife of Indiana Senate Democratic candidate Evan Bayh spoke to a dozen of her husband’s Wabash County supporters on his political stances, encouraging the locals to spread the word to their friends, family and neighbors.
“(My husband) is a gentleman,” Mrs. Bayh said. “He is a person who is willing to work with anybody to get the job done. … No progress will be made unless people are willing to work with others across the aisle.”
Previously leading in the polls by double digits, Bayh, Indiana’s former governor and Senate representative, is now running a close race with Republican candidate Todd Young, which is something Mrs. Bayh said they’ve always expected.
“We always knew this would be a close race,” Mrs. Bayh told The Paper of Wabash County. “This is not a surprise to us at all.”
On Thursday, Oct. 13, with less than three weeks until the Wabash debate between the two U.S. House of Representatives’ 2nd District candidates, Republican incumbent Jackie Walorski stopped by PaperWorks to tour the factory and learn more about how the Wabash-based facility is recycling paper to make name brand products.
Walorski spoke to a handful of the facility’s workers and board members about her political stances and inside knowledge about the nation’s future tax reform before receiving a tour of the facility.
“We’re going to be looking at, for example, in January, we’re going to be looking at tax reform in the country,” Walorski told the group in answering a question about her risk to help the local facility. “Tax reform is going to happen no matter what president is elected because republicans and democrats both are ready to come to the table on tax reform and that will have implications on every single company in this country.
“So my job becomes the defender of companies in this district. So there is no risk (for me). My job is to defend the company. … My job is to be an advocate and fighting for this company.”
Before leaving for her next appointment, Walorski told The Paper that she is looking forward to the local debate on Tuesday, Nov. 1.
“We really come to Wabash in all of the debates because one of the things that we heard when this district was re-districted, we heard from so many people that lived out here that they never knew who represented them, nobody had ever cared about the southern part of the district and that they had been tossed around,” she said, “and it is so important to me. We come to Wabash a lot … but just letting people know that we are one district and I fight for everybody.
“Just because I live up north doesn’t mean I’m not fighting every day for Hoosiers in Wabash as well and we love the community. We love coming down here.”