> SOUTHERN INDIANA — The 9th District U.S. Congressional Democratic primary is packed with five candidates vying to garner their party’s nod Tuesday and move forward to challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Todd Young in November.

Jonathan George, John Miller, Shelli Yoder, Robert Winningham and John Tilford round out the Democratic ticket for the 9th District House race.

Yoder, 43, is a former Miss Indiana who said her dissatisfaction with the current political representation for working class Hoosiers pushed her into joining the race.

Winningham, 50, worked under former Congressman Lee Hamilton primarily assisting in economic development projects.

George, 55, has a storied history in the military including overseeing the training of Afghanistan security forces as well as commanding two Air Force wings and a B-2 Stealth Bomber squadron.

Miller, 55, said both Republicans and Democrats have failed the American people and is campaigning as a candidate who will fight against corporate greed, in part by pushing to bring back Glass-Steagall regulations as a way to monitor lending institutions.

Tilford, 65, also has an extensive military background and has vowed to only serve one term if he’s elected to Congress. Additionally, Tilford isn’t accepting private campaign donations.



George: “I’m concerned about humanity”

George said he didn’t give much thought to running for public office until he returned home to Lawrence County after serving overseas and found that the country was “looking worse than when it did when I was a youngster.”

“I’m concerned about our responsibility as Americans to continue to try and foster a better world,” said George, who joined the U.S. Air Force in 1981 and has been tabbed by the likes of President Ronald Reagan and President Barack Obama to serve in various roles including as a member of the National Security Staff.

While he doesn’t have a voting record to tout, George said his 30-year military career speaks for itself when it comes to management and performance. George oversaw billions of dollars in equipment and thousands of soldiers while leading the first three nights of air strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“I think that I’ve been exposed to a wide range of ideas and experiences that quickly give Southern Indiana a big boost if I get elected,” he said.

George actually advocated to only use air strikes in Afghanistan as opposed to an on ground invasion similar to what President George Bush did during the first Gulf War.

“I wish we had followed that with both Afghanistan and Iraq,” he said.

Agriculture, Social Security and education are also key issues for George, who believes the next two election cycles for America “may very well dictate what happens to the world.”

“I think we always feel that the next election is at a crucial time, and there certainly have been some that were at very crucial times, but this is maybe one of the most crucial times in our history because the word is changing so rapidly,” George said.

Learn more about George at www.georgeforcongress.com.



Winningham: “A lot of people don’t know who their congressman is.”

Winningham lives with his family in Charlestown and said there’s a disconnect between Congress and voters, and that it’s especially noticeable in Southern Indiana.

“I can tell you Congress isn’t focused on jobs, they’re focused on the wrong stuff — taxing women, seniors, students trying to afford college loans,” Winningham said.

During his travels around the 9th District, Winningham said many of the people he’s spoken with don’t even know who their congressman is, or what Young has done to benefit Hoosiers.

Winningham criticized Young’s budgetary stances and said some of his votes have essentially been direct attacks on college students trying to pay back loans, senior citizens struggling to make ends meet and infrastructure funding at a time when roads and bridges need to be upgraded.

Winningham said if elected, constituent services will be a priority for him.

“I learned from one of the best ever,” Winningham said of his former boss, Hamilton, for whom he served as an aide under.

“I know that letters need to be responded to within a week, that a good congressman is accessible, he listens and he responds and serves with integrity.”

The number one concern among Hoosier families is jobs, Winningham said, and he believes his experience helping to create more than 5,000 jobs in Texas as head of a municipal economic development corporation gives him the knowledge to push for legislation that will grow the nation’s labor force.

“My interest is in bringing the jobs back to the 9th District and stopping the flow of jobs overseas,” Winningham said.

Raising the skill level of the area’s workforce through education and investing in research and development in the private and public sectors are two ways to create jobs, Winningham said.

For more information, visit winningham4congress.com



Yoder: “I know that Hoosier families can do better”

Disengaged, dissatisfied and angry — Yoder said she’s run into a few people on the campaign trail that fit that description, and that the bulk of their frustration is tied to their elected leadership.

Yoder described herself as a working mom from Bloomington who joined the race late but isn’t backing down from the usual political ploys.

Yoder said her campaign “is the epitome of grassroots because I am not somebody from within the party.”

Instead, Yoder said she’s just someone with a passion for helping others and creating a better future for her community. She said families haven’t been getting the representation they deserve in Congress and that it’s time for new faces in Washington.

Improving public education, providing affordable health care and sustaining Medicare are among her priorities, but Yoder said job creation is the key issue for almost everybody.

“And not just any jobs, I’m focusing on sustainable, good paying jobs that will take the 9th District into the global economy of our 21st Century,” she said.

Yoder said she would not support privatizing Medicare, would fight to access federal dollars for Southern Indiana projects and would prioritize funding for infrastructure projects.

When it comes to national security, she said the country must be strong from within, and that she will “be someone who will come to the table always to exhaust all diplomatic efforts.”

“I am concerned by this perpetual war mentality,” Yoder said. “I’m aware of and sensing this war fatigue in our country, and quite honestly it’s negatively impacting our own national security.”

For more on Yoder, visit the website www.shelliyoderforcongress.com.



Tilford: “I know we could do better”

Tilford said when he surveyed the political and economical landscape of America prior to deciding to run for Congress, he felt an emotion he believes most people can empathize with — frustration.

“Not just a general frustration, but frustration [with] people posturing against each other and partisan issues, and the whole nation suffering as a result,” he said.

From financial issues to serving military veterans, Tilford believes he has the ability to work with Republicans and Democrats in a non partisan way that will result in real change.

“People make general kinds of promises beyond what they can do,” Tilford said of Congress members.

But Tilford feels his top priorities are quite attainable, as he seeks to avoid super partisanship, put the country first and find a feasible solution to national health care if elected.

“Those are things it’s going to take cooperation on across the aisle,” he said.

Tilford added he has a “laundry list” of specific projects he would work on if elected ranging from removing “extra layers of management” in the Foreign Surveillance Court to ensuring veterans have access to “space available flights” if they desire.

Tilford isn’t accepting campaign donations, and said he will only serve one term if elected. He said he’s “not a super strong Democrat” and would not toe a party line.

“I would as a result have leverage, which [Young] does not,” he said.

For more on Tilford, visit the website www.tilfordforcongress.com.



Miller: “They have all dropped the ball for the American people”

Miller is likely best known to New Albany residents as the former director of a community organization charged with managing the Linden Meadows subdivision development.

Work at Linden Meadows -- which was to be a neighborhood for first time homebuyers -- was halted by the state after the New Albany-Floyd County Community Housing Development Organization that Miller was employed by defaulted on a loan.

There were court issues that delayed the CHDO from seeking homeowners, then the housing market collapsed, and the entire experience Miller said made him realize that banks around the world aren’t being regulated properly.

“I got to see the foreclosure crisis from the inside,” Miller said. “This year is the time I think we have to turn things around.”

Repealed since 1999, Miller supports reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act. He said everything from home equity to pension funds have been hurt since the deregulation of the lending industry.

“The reason they’re allowed to do this, this Congress, every single member is dependent on the 1 percent and the bankers and the big corporations for their campaign reelection funds, so how are they ever going to vote against these guys,” Miller said.

Miller supports a single payer health care system with Medicare for all, and also backs removing the president from office if the country declares war without a congressional vote.

“We should be waging a war against the international [lenders] that are still stealing the equity out of our homes,” he said.

Miller criticized both parties for their recent trends of partisanship, and said he’s actually running against Congress, not for it.

For more information on Miller, visit the website www.anewcongress.com.



Time for the incumbent

Young will face the winner of Tuesday’s primary in a November runoff that will determine who will represent Indiana’s 9th District for 2013-2014.

Young recently stood by Republican backed budget proposals that he said unlike Obama’s suggestions, actually attempt to balance spending.

Young was elected in 2010 after defeating incumbent Democrat Baron Hill. He said despite a somewhat partisan Congress, he’s been able to be a part of or sponsor legislation that’s benefited Hoosiers over the past two years.

If re-elected, Young said his priorities would include improving the economy, continuing to serve constituents and curbing health care costs.

Young has been a staunch critic of Obama’s health care plan, and said despite attacks by competitors that he doesn’t despise Medicare, only wants to ensure that it’s sustainable.

As for the national deficit and federal spending, Young said all options are on the table, but he feels Congress must be diligent and fair in its approach.

“I certainly wouldn’t begin by increasing taxes on families during the worst recession since the Great Depression,” Young said.

Though many believe the 9th District is more conservative friendly after the Statehouse redrew congressional voting lines following the 2010 election, Young said anything can happen.

“We’re certainly not going to take anything for granted,” he said.