Published Wednesday 31 of March, 2010
Frank Phillips, Journal Review
Democrat David Sanders plans to host a town hall meeting at 6:30 p.m. in Baxter Hall at Wabash College on Thursday.
West Lafayette’s Sanders is one of three candidates whose names will be on the Democratic Party ballot on May 4 for nomination to Indiana’s 4th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He has picked up the endorsement of the Montgomery County Democrats and the endorsement of Democrats in the 4th District, said Montgomery County Treasurer Eric Schronce.
“He is the only Democrat running for the nomination,” Schronce said Tuesday.
Schronce said the other two candidates on the ballot, Lafayette’s Tara E. Nelson, and Whiteland’s Mark Powell, are not true Democrats. Nelson tried to run as a Republican but was refused by Tippecanoe County Republican Chairman Bob Hicks because she voted in the Democratic Party Primary.
After the House passed the healthcare reform package, Powell announced he would not campaign for the 4th District seat as a protest against the Democrats.
Schronce said two topics would probably be brought up at the town hall meeting: Healthcare and Wall Street.
“Healthcare is a hot topic now,” Schronce said. “ Wall Street reform is next on the president’s agenda so I assume that will be in there as well.”
Schronce said the race is wide open at this point.
“Normally, the incumbent sets the pace for what will be discussed in the campaign, but there isn’t one,” he said. Republican Steve Buyer announced he would not seek re-election. There are 13 Republicans seeking their party’s nomination to the 4th District seat.
Sanders has sought to set himself apart from other candidates. “Fiscal responsibility, true public service, protection for Constitutional liberties and respect for veterans are the cornerstones of his philosophy,” states his Web site: sandersforcongress.org.
Sanders is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Purdue University. His expertise concerns gene therapy, cancer research, biodefense, and pandemic influenza. Sanders’ research on the Ebola virus led to his participation in the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Biological Weapons Proliferation Prevention Program. His responsibilities included inspecting a formerly secret bioweapons laboratory in Siberia. He is a National Science Foundation CAREER Award Recipient and an American Cancer Society Research Scholar.
