Andrew Bales

Age: 54

Hometown: Anderson

Residence: Indianapolis

Family: three daughters, four grandchildren

Education: bachelor’s in education from Indiana University

Political experience: previous precinct committeeman

Career: retired teacher and U.S. Army veteran

Why he’s running: Our country is in crisis. Federal spending is out of control, our Constitution is under attack, affordable health care is nearly out of reach for the average citizen, our borders have been
compromised, and we’ve witnessed an attempted coup of a sitting president.

Top priority: Second Amendment rights. Without this right, none of the others matter much.

What he’s streaming: no answer

Q&A

What do you think needs to be done to improve access to and the affordability of health care?

Price transparency and competition between providers will lower the cost of health care. If small businesses have more options for group plans, that will lower the cost of coverage and improve access.

What should be done to address the massive amount of student debt in this country and make college more affordable?

We’ve been pushing students into four-year degree programs for decades now at the expense of the trades. Good, high-paying jobs are going unfilled because of this. It’s also completely too easy to earn a degree. If everyone has something, what is its value?

What is your position on trade and tariffs?

The coronavirus pandemic has made us painfully aware of our critical need for the national supply chain and our emergency stockpiles to not rely on foreign players such as China. We must now take a serious look at global trade and trade partners. China is not our friend and maybe we should be shopping around for a better deal.

What should be done to address climate change?

I don’t buy into the doom-and-gloomers’ theories that the world is ending. Should we be doing a better job taking care of our planet? Absolutely. The problem is not the U.S. The problem is that major polluters like China and India continue to pump toxic plumes into the air, while politicians in the Western world attempt to collect carbon taxes from the air we breathe. I won’t buy into the hype, but I will always stand for good environmental sense and land and water conservation.