October 8, 2018 at 4:29 p.m.
Two seek seat in D3
Incumbent Banks faces challenge from Tritch
Two seek seat in D3
Republicans have received at least 62 percent of the vote in Indiana’s third U.S. Congressional district in four straight elections.
It’s a trend Jim Banks is hoping to continue and Courtney Tritch is seeking to turn on its head.
Banks, the incumbent Republican from Columbia City, is facing a challenge from Tritch, a Fort Wayne Democrat, in the race for the seat that represents all or part of 12 northeast Indiana counties, including Jay.
Banks, who had spent three terms in the Indiana House, won a five-way Republican primary in 2016 and cruised in the general election with more than 70 percent of the vote. He served as a U.S. Navy Reserve and holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University (2004) and a master’s of business administration from Grace College (2013).
Tritch has spent 16 years working in economic development, including as vice president for marketing for the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership since 2010. She also graduated from Indiana University and earned a marketing strategy certificate from Cornell University.
In looking at his first term in office, Banks said he is proud of accomplishments including the tax cut package, regulatory rollbacks, efforts to rebuild the military and support for veterans. He wants to return to Washington, D.C., to continue working on those and other issues.
Tritch said it was the death of her sister at age 39 that sparked her to run, as she thought about what kind of work she should be doing to make a difference.
“After November 2016, I decided that it was time to throw my hat in the ring and try to stand up for people who hadn’t been having their voices be heard,” she said.
Priorities
In discussing her top issues, Tritch brought up health care, education and economic development.
On education, she said public schools are essential and that she is against vouchers that direct tax dollars to private schools.
“I don’t feel that that’s fiscally efficient, to be funding multiple education systems,” said Tritch. “And I get concerned specifically about our rural communities because they don’t have access to those charter schools. All they’re seeing is their funding go down.”
She also noted the need to control college debt, suggesting that student loans should be allowed to be refinanced at lower rates.
Banks placed his focus squarely on the military, saying the country is just starting to make up ground on aviation training, readiness, technology and other issues. He also noted the need to modernize the records system for the Veterans Administration in order to make it more efficient.
Local issues
When it comes to issues of district and local importance, such as school safety, the opioid crisis and workforce and economic development, Banks said he believes the best thing the federal government can do is make sure state and local officials have the resources to implement the programs and policies they see fit. He said the current Congress has passed more bills addressing the opioid epidemic than any before, complimented school safety efforts in Jay County and noted the need for continuing grants for workforce training.
“The more that we can empower the states to solve issues like that, the better off we will be,” said Banks. “The solutions aren’t going to come from politicians and bureaucrats in Washington, they’re going to come from people in Indiana who have a better idea of how to train the workforce in Indiana to meet the job needs of the future.
“I can’t think of too many issues outside of flying fighter jets and steering aircraft carriers that the State of Indiana can’t do better than the federal government.”
On those same issues, Tritch agreed that initial steps toward fighting opioids have been positive and the funding continues to need to be provided for rehabilitation. She said a real discussion is needed about gun reform, including universal background checks and safe storage laws, and indicated that she’d like to see the region and the country place more of a focus on manufacturing jobs that are tied to emerging industries such as clean energy.
Health care
For Tritch, health care is the No. 1 issue facing the country in the next few years.
It’s a trend Jim Banks is hoping to continue and Courtney Tritch is seeking to turn on its head.
Banks, the incumbent Republican from Columbia City, is facing a challenge from Tritch, a Fort Wayne Democrat, in the race for the seat that represents all or part of 12 northeast Indiana counties, including Jay.
Banks, who had spent three terms in the Indiana House, won a five-way Republican primary in 2016 and cruised in the general election with more than 70 percent of the vote. He served as a U.S. Navy Reserve and holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University (2004) and a master’s of business administration from Grace College (2013).
Tritch has spent 16 years working in economic development, including as vice president for marketing for the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership since 2010. She also graduated from Indiana University and earned a marketing strategy certificate from Cornell University.
In looking at his first term in office, Banks said he is proud of accomplishments including the tax cut package, regulatory rollbacks, efforts to rebuild the military and support for veterans. He wants to return to Washington, D.C., to continue working on those and other issues.
Tritch said it was the death of her sister at age 39 that sparked her to run, as she thought about what kind of work she should be doing to make a difference.
“After November 2016, I decided that it was time to throw my hat in the ring and try to stand up for people who hadn’t been having their voices be heard,” she said.
Priorities
In discussing her top issues, Tritch brought up health care, education and economic development.
On education, she said public schools are essential and that she is against vouchers that direct tax dollars to private schools.
“I don’t feel that that’s fiscally efficient, to be funding multiple education systems,” said Tritch. “And I get concerned specifically about our rural communities because they don’t have access to those charter schools. All they’re seeing is their funding go down.”
She also noted the need to control college debt, suggesting that student loans should be allowed to be refinanced at lower rates.
Banks placed his focus squarely on the military, saying the country is just starting to make up ground on aviation training, readiness, technology and other issues. He also noted the need to modernize the records system for the Veterans Administration in order to make it more efficient.
Local issues
When it comes to issues of district and local importance, such as school safety, the opioid crisis and workforce and economic development, Banks said he believes the best thing the federal government can do is make sure state and local officials have the resources to implement the programs and policies they see fit. He said the current Congress has passed more bills addressing the opioid epidemic than any before, complimented school safety efforts in Jay County and noted the need for continuing grants for workforce training.
“The more that we can empower the states to solve issues like that, the better off we will be,” said Banks. “The solutions aren’t going to come from politicians and bureaucrats in Washington, they’re going to come from people in Indiana who have a better idea of how to train the workforce in Indiana to meet the job needs of the future.
“I can’t think of too many issues outside of flying fighter jets and steering aircraft carriers that the State of Indiana can’t do better than the federal government.”
On those same issues, Tritch agreed that initial steps toward fighting opioids have been positive and the funding continues to need to be provided for rehabilitation. She said a real discussion is needed about gun reform, including universal background checks and safe storage laws, and indicated that she’d like to see the region and the country place more of a focus on manufacturing jobs that are tied to emerging industries such as clean energy.
Health care
For Tritch, health care is the No. 1 issue facing the country in the next few years.
She said she’d like to see a Medicare option opened up as part of the Affordable Care Act marketplace to allow consumers to buy in if they would like to. She said doing so would add younger, healthier people to the Medicare pool, stabilize exchanges and force private companies to compete.
“Everyone is looking for solutions to affordable, accessible health care,” she said. “We want to make sure that everyone has access to health care, that it’s affordable, that pre-existing conditions are covered and just make sure we’re protecting that and moving that forward.”
Banks said he is in favor of repealing the ACA — he voted to do so last year — and replace it with expanded health savings accounts and tax credits for purchasing insurance. He said there’s a need to curtail increasing costs, which he blamed on the ACA. He also noted that GOP plans do not call for eliminating coverage of pre-existing conditions.
Immigration
Banks expressed his support for building the border wall championed by President Donald Trump and providing more funding for border security. He also called for eliminating some of the “silly” legal immigration policies such as chain migration and the visa lottery system and replacing them with a merit-based approach.
“Immigration is important to our country,” said Banks. “It’s important to the foundation of our great country. It’s who we are. I’m for welcoming more legal immigration and finding ways to prevent illegal immigration in the process.”
Tritch expressed support for finding a way to secure borders humanely, offer “Dreamers” a path to citizenship and fix the “antiquated” immigration system, noting that a large percentage of those who are in the country illegally have overstayed their visas. She said immigration is important to the economy, especially in areas like northeast Indiana that are in need of a boost to the labor force.
••••••••••
Tritch said she believes the district needs a representative in D.C. who understands area efforts to move the economy forward, touting her decade-plus of work in economic development.
“Also, I think that people are really tired of the partisan fear-mongering that is going on,” she said. “And I am being very intentional about presenting a different choice from that. It’s about having a fresh take on how we can look at things and actually solve problems and not get stuck in those partisan traps where it’s just stuck in sound bites and vitriol.”
Banks said he believes his policies — pro-life, against amnesty for illegal immigrants and fiscally conservative, and others — best reflect the feelings of the 12 counties that are part of the district.
“My conservative track record, voting record and values substantially match the values in the district so much more than my opponent,” said Banks. “I do what I do as a congressman because I believe in conservative values. Her views couldn’t be any more different from the views that I have.”
“Everyone is looking for solutions to affordable, accessible health care,” she said. “We want to make sure that everyone has access to health care, that it’s affordable, that pre-existing conditions are covered and just make sure we’re protecting that and moving that forward.”
Banks said he is in favor of repealing the ACA — he voted to do so last year — and replace it with expanded health savings accounts and tax credits for purchasing insurance. He said there’s a need to curtail increasing costs, which he blamed on the ACA. He also noted that GOP plans do not call for eliminating coverage of pre-existing conditions.
Immigration
Banks expressed his support for building the border wall championed by President Donald Trump and providing more funding for border security. He also called for eliminating some of the “silly” legal immigration policies such as chain migration and the visa lottery system and replacing them with a merit-based approach.
“Immigration is important to our country,” said Banks. “It’s important to the foundation of our great country. It’s who we are. I’m for welcoming more legal immigration and finding ways to prevent illegal immigration in the process.”
Tritch expressed support for finding a way to secure borders humanely, offer “Dreamers” a path to citizenship and fix the “antiquated” immigration system, noting that a large percentage of those who are in the country illegally have overstayed their visas. She said immigration is important to the economy, especially in areas like northeast Indiana that are in need of a boost to the labor force.
••••••••••
Tritch said she believes the district needs a representative in D.C. who understands area efforts to move the economy forward, touting her decade-plus of work in economic development.
“Also, I think that people are really tired of the partisan fear-mongering that is going on,” she said. “And I am being very intentional about presenting a different choice from that. It’s about having a fresh take on how we can look at things and actually solve problems and not get stuck in those partisan traps where it’s just stuck in sound bites and vitriol.”
Banks said he believes his policies — pro-life, against amnesty for illegal immigrants and fiscally conservative, and others — best reflect the feelings of the 12 counties that are part of the district.
“My conservative track record, voting record and values substantially match the values in the district so much more than my opponent,” said Banks. “I do what I do as a congressman because I believe in conservative values. Her views couldn’t be any more different from the views that I have.”
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