U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, a Republican, fended off attacks from both Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater in the final gubernatorial debate of the election season on Thursday night.

All candidates compete succeeds Gov. Eric Holcomb, who is term-limited.

“Senator Braun admitted tonight that he is the ultimate insider with a lot of government experience and has done a lot in government,” Rainwater concluded at the end of the debate. “…which means he's in the middle of it all when you're frustrated with the federal government or the state government. And if you want change, he won’t change anything.”

McCormick continued to join in Braun on the ultra-conservative views of his Vice President Micah Beckwith, a self-proclaimed Christian nationalist. In a media release following the debate, McCormick defended the tactic, noting that if elected, the 70-year-old Braun would be the state's oldest governor, which would have put Beckwith “a heartbeat” away from office.

“I can't remember in my adult life we've ever had such an extreme candidate in this position… he's also clearly in charge.” Let's just call it what it is: This isn't the Braun-Beckwith ticket, that one is the Beckwith-Braun ticket,” McCormick said. “And that shows us what awaits us if he were elected.”

She pointed to a recent video in which Beckwith said this would lay off state employees use pronouns in their email signatures.

Braun, for his part, urged voters to examine each candidate's past achievements rather than their promises.

“Look at the track record of whether you get something done — not whether you say you’re going to do it,” Braun said. “And I can provide proven leadership with results and take Indiana to a place we’ve never been before.”

Republicans have held the state's highest elected office for two decades and McCormick, then a Republican, defeated the last statewide elected Democrat in 2016 when she won the seat as the last superintendent of public instruction.

Moderator and political science professor Laura Merrifield Wilson of the University of Indianapolis gave each candidate one minute for answers and another 30 seconds for rebuttals if necessary.

Hot moments

Questions posed by Hoosiers to the Indiana Debate Commission ranged from education and affordable housing incentives to property taxes and views on abortion.

Each of the three candidates has released their own property tax visions, which have been scrutinized for their potential impact on state and local budgets.

Both Braun and Rainwater signaled continued support for school vouchers, which are typically used by wealthy families who avoid public school systems. McCormick called for a suspension of the program and more accountability for schools that receive public money.

McCormick sharply criticized Braun for a comment in which he said her four-year term as Superintendent of Public Instruction was her only time in public service.

“Shame on you. I was a teacher for 25 years and when we say teachers are not public servants, it sends a real message to Hoosiers about who you are,” McCormick said.

Braun hit back at McCormick after she criticized him for failing to take action to support farmers during his time in Congress.

He said he was recognized by the Indiana Farm Bureau for his efforts and called farming “one of the most difficult jobs God ever created.”

“Get your facts straight before you say something like that,” he replied to McCormick.

Rainwater wondered whether farmers in Braun's hometown of Jasper, Dubois County, would agree that he represented their best interests.

“I would encourage you to go to Dubois and Martin County to the family farmers who are having their land taken away to build the Mid-States Corridor (and ask) what they think of Senator Braun and his support of family farming in the state of Indiana Rainwater said.

The Mid-States Corridor has divided locals, Many of them are cautious of the transport project.

Current controversies

All three candidates held pro-gun views, with both Braun and McCormick saying they supported so-called red flag laws to ban gun ownership by people deemed a public threat.

“The red flag laws have worked well here. “But they actually need to be improved because that is the first step in preventing guns from getting into the hands of the mentally ill… (and) out of the hands of criminals,” Braun said.

Rainwater opposed gun restrictions, saying criminals didn't follow laws and the government shouldn't be able to decide who gets a gun.

McCormick, who said she had a gun, pointed to it old posts from Beckwith say red flag laws are unconstitutional.

But one topic didn't make it into the debate: recent mailings from the Indiana Republican Party attacking Rainwater over decades-long financial problems in which his wages were garnished to pay child support.

Following the debate, Rainwater said he declined to bring up the attacks because they were unrelated to any issue.

“I would say at best I find them attacking me in situations that I have experienced in my life as a 20- to 30-year-old and that I think a lot of Hoosiers can relate to,” Rainwater said. “…they still want to call me a loser. If they think that of me, I wonder what they think of the rest of the citizens of the state of Indiana.”

Some Hoosiers in red counties I received the mailers Earlier this month, that could be a sign of a close race in which Braun could not lose any voters to Rainwater.

McCormick, when available, also condemned the attacks.

“Shame on Braun’s team for putting this out there. But I've seen so many interesting lies and attacks this year…that's just the difference: They tell lies, we talk about problems,” McCormick said.

“I don’t give a fuck what kind of stove you have,” she continued, referring to a digitally modified display sent by Braun's campaign. “What do you want to achieve with this? Do you just keep lying? … (It) was just completely wrong.”

Braun was the only candidate who did not meet with the media after the debate.

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