Democratic State Rep. Vernon Smith, a 34-year Statehouse veteran, faces a Nov. 5 challenge from Gary Republican Ivan Ursery II for the District 14 House seat.
The district includes the south side of Gary, Merrillville, and unincorporated Calumet Township.
The candidates offer contrasting views on issues.
Ursery, who earlier made an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Gary City Council, is a family and community engagement specialist in the Merrillville Community Schools.
He favors a social conservative approach to government and issues.
A Navy veteran, Ursery deployed during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, according to his campaign website. Ursery described himself as pro-life and pro-traditional family whose worldview is shaped by the Bible.
He supports school choice and Indiana’s expansive voucher system and said the COVID-19 mandates such as masking and the suspension of church services during the pandemic should not have occurred.
Ursery said he sends his children to a private, Christian-based school in Gary and is happy for the choice, as a parent.
“I think the money should follow the child,” he said.
He also voiced support for a 2022 state law, opposed by Smith, that blocked transgender girls from competing in K-12 sports.
Smith, a former Gary City Council member, is a long-time fixture in Gary Democratic politics. He’s a retired Gary Community School Corp. teacher and administrator and is an education professor at Indiana University Northwest.
Smith said many of Ursery’s positions would conflict with the views of citizens in District 14.
Smith said he typically responds to phone calls, sends out surveys, and answers letters.
“I’m out in the community constantly… My votes are based on what the majority of my constituents want,” he said.
Smith said he expects Medicaid expansion to be the top topic in the upcoming General Assembly budget session, which begins in January.
As the ranking minority member on the House Education Committee, Smith said he’s concerned about the continued privatization of education at the expense of traditional public schools, many of which are in a revolving referendum status as they need more property tax to support operations.
“If you’re not growing, you suffer,” he said of enrollment. “It’s the state’s responsibility to educate students. I believe in equity and rural and urban districts are suffering,” Smith said.
He said most of the residents in District 14 don’t want their tax dollars going to private education. He said if his opponent supports vouchers and thinks his view should override his constituents, he wouldn’t be a good representative.
In the upcoming session, Smith said he would sponsor a bill securing common school loan forgiveness from the state for the Gary Community School Corp. as it regains its footing after leaving state control.
He said he also plans to update a law he authored on school bullying that would require intervention into bullying reports.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
