Three compete for open southwest Indiana seat INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Voters in Indiana’s largest congressional district will select a new member of Congress in November. Republican Rep. Larry Bucshon is retiring after 14 years representing Indiana’s 8th Congressional District, which covers the southwest portion of the state and includes Evansville, Terre Haute and Naval Support Activity Crane. Three names await voters on the ballot: Republican Mark Messmer, Democrat Erik Hurt and Libertarian Richard Fitzlaff. News 8 asked all three candidates for interviews. Messmer turned down News 8’s request, while Hurt and Fitzlaff accepted. Voter registration ends on Oct. 7. Early voting begins the following day. Erik Hurt Erik Hurt manages a movie theater in Evansville. He told WISH-TV’s “All INdiana Politics” he’s running because he’s tired of seeing working-class people denied the living wage and benefits they deserve. He said he would push for a $20-per-hour minimum wage, a 32-hour workweek and six weeks of paid leave per year for every worker. Hurt said he also supports a windfall tax on corporate profits, with special credits for small businesses to offset the impact of those taxes. He said the proposal would help address inflation and ensure companies pay their fair share. Hurt said the best way to address the crisis at the southern U.S. border is to address its root causes, such as Americans’ drug addiction that fuels the drug trade. He said helping those struggling with addiction to get treatment would help reduce the demand for illegal drugs. As for the people coming across the border, Hurt said the United States should simplify its immigration system and devote more resources to the people who run it “If we invest in more people going through immigration applications, making sure there are more people available to make that process go quicker, we can have more people go through that process,” he said. “If you have that process sped up, I think you will see a drastic reduction in illegal immigration.” On the national debt, Hurt said properly investing in infrastructure now can prevent excessive maintenance spending later. He said raising taxes on the ultra-wealthy would bring in more revenue. Hurt said he would support continuing military aid to Ukraine but not necessarily Israel. He said not supporting Ukraine would leave the rest of Europe at risk of Soviet-style occupation by Putin’s Russia. As for Israel, he said the United States should ensure Jewish people, in In that country and around the world, are protected but the high civilian casualty count in Gaza should cause the United States to rethink how it supports Israel’s military. K. Richard Fitzlaff Fitzlaff, a small-business owner and Army veteran, said Indiana deserves a member of Congress with “sound fiscal and social policies.” He said he supports replacing the entire federal income tax system with a national sales tax. He said this would give people the freedom to better determine how their money is used. Fitzlaff said this freedom would allow people to build generational wealth, thus offsetting impacts on people with lower incomes in particular. Fitzlaff said the way to address the nation’s $35 trillion debt is to bring down spending, including on social programs. He said the government can find plenty of savings through contract reform. As for social programs, he said he would work to ensure the only people who are receiving government assistance are those who truly need it. On the southern border and immigration, Fitzlaff said the United States should welcome anyone who can pass a criminal background check. He noted law enforcement data which show immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than native-born Americans. “Legal immigration needs to be reformed in such a way that we keep bad actors out, we keep those that would seek to drain our resources out while at the same time simplifying the process for becoming an American citizen,” he said. Fitzlaff said he opposes any further military aid for either Ukraine or Israel. He said the United States should not be in the business of picking winners and losers on the world stage, especially through weapons sales. In addition, he said Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks have killed far too many civilians and the American people have to decide what level of civilian casualties is too high.