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Healthcare
4.00
Economics
4.00
Candidate Name
Drew Cox
District
Indiana US House District 4
Values
Grade
Values
Party
Democrat
Experience
Challenger
Grade
Democracy
4.00
Accessibility
4
Governance
4
Cost
Choice
4
4
Freedom
Voting
4
4
Community
3.33
A
Overall Grade
Education
4.00
Affordability
Equity
Opportunity
4
4
4
Environment
Public Safety
Inclusion
4
2
4
Stability
Funding
Belonging
4
4
4
Notable Information
Candidate Name
Candidate for:
Indiana US House District 4
Democrat
Challenger
Notable Information
MADVoters Survey Responses
Healthcare: The Big Beautiful Bill is projected to cut $31 billion from Indiana’s Medicaid funding, including almost $13 billion in hospital funding, over the next decade. What will you do if elected to ensure healthcare affordability and access given these changes? (Source: Indiana Hospital Association)
In the long term, our goal is to have a nationalized, single-payer healthcare system that is available to everyone. In the meantime, I believe the Democratic party can win enough races in November to repeal the Big Beautiful Bill's harmful and unnecessary cuts to Medicaid, which affect rural hospitals especially.
I would certainly vote to expand Medicaid and Medicare until we've achieved the goal of nationalizing our healthcare system. We also need to look at mobile integrated healthcare, particularly for our rural communities. Rural hospitals rely more heavily on Medicaid, and so we have to atone for the long-term infrastructural damage that will be caused if the Big Beautiful Bull remains intact.
Economics: AI and data centers are having a huge impact on jobs and communities across the nation, particularly in Indiana. What is Congress’s role in addressing this developing technology? What action will you take to hear and represent the concerns of Hoosiers on this topic?
Economics: Dozens of AI data centers are planning to come to Indiana, drawn by the state’s “business-friendly” reputation. How should Indiana manage these large industrial site proposals and their potential impact on communities? (Source: Citizens Action Coalition)
I've heard a great deal of opinions on data centers since this campaign began about a year ago. The vast majority of the people I talk to don't want data centers in their communities. It's becoming more obvious how much data centers take and how little they give back. Construction jobs are bountiful, but once the construction ends, there remain very few full-time employees to run a data center.
Congress needs to establish a comprehensive water plan that ensures data centers (and similar types of corporations) can't consume limitless amounts of water. I believe we are currently sleepwalking into a water crisis and data centers are the biggest reason.
We need to elect grassroots candidates that don't accept donations from these massive corporations that are quite literally sneaking data centers into communities. Congress should pass legislation that puts a moratorium on data centers until there is a comprehensive plan that forces data centers to work for--and not take from--their respective communities.
Education: Describe your stance on the Department of Education and its role in education administration, funding, and protections for students with disabilities.
Education: Since 2012, Indiana has spent over $5.5 billion in taxpayer dollars on charter schools and the private school voucher program. If elected, would you support or oppose the use of taxpayer dollars to funding private schools and charter schools? Why or why not? (Source: ICPE)
The Department of Education (ED) has faced constant scrutiny and misinformation since its inception in 1980. ED distributes funds in K-12 education, primarily to disadvantaged students and students with disabilities. ED distributes Pell Grants and facilitates the Federal Student Loan Program. In addition to administering funds, ED has the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which works to ensure that all schools receiving federal funds abide by federal civil rights laws. The OCR is crucial in creating equal outcomes for students of different backgrounds.
Our education system in the US is uniquely decentralized, and I believe that has led to poor outcomes. In states like Indiana, 1/3 of all charter schools have closed, school vouchers are given to rich kids, need-based criteria have been eliminated, teacher pay is abysmal, etc. We need to increase funding for Title One whereas the GOP wants to eliminate it. We need a stronger Department of Education.
One thing to examine is the amount of test-taking required for states that receive funding for Title One. Teachers are now teaching students to simply pass the next standardized test and yet standardized tests don't accurately reflect student knowledge in an impartial way. Constant test-taking decreases students' critical thinking skills and leads to higher anxiety. I support curtailing these standardized testing demands.
Democracy: In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge or threat facing our democracy right now? If elected, what will you do to help overcome this challenge or threat?
Money in politics is one issue that negatively affects so many things. Money runs every race. It's the one thing you need to win, but not something that your supporters necessarily have. Simply put, if you don't have money, you don't have as much influence. And that's just wrong.
I am a grassroots candidate that fully supports overturning Citizens United. We have only accepted funds from individuals thus far. We will not accept money from AIPAC or other idealogical pacs that do not have the 4th district's best interests in mind.
Lastly, the number of US representatives has stayed the same for roughly 100 years. Yet, our population has grown immensely in that time. There is one representative for roughly 760,000 constituents. The very first congress featured one representative for roughly 32,000 constituents. I am in support of multi-member districts as a way to accomplish this goal. Multi-member districts would also prevent one party from dominating a single district for decades at a time.
Community: Describe your stance on ICE and its role in immigration enforcement and detention.
Community: What role or responsibility do local and state governments have with regards to immigration enforcement?
ICE has demonstrated itself to be a lawless organization that doesn't adhere to basic law enforcement agency standards. I had hoped that ICE could be reformed with a new congress, but now I think it should be abolished. They wear masks, they mistakenly abduct US citizens, and they have entered private homes without judicially-signed warrants. The GOP largely seems unbothered by ICE's constitutional crises or their general barbarism.
In addition, the current administration is simply targeting communities of color and Democratic communities. The current administration is literally targeting certain areas of the US more than others for partisan purposes. Horrifyingly, they have shipped thousands of people to countries with which they have no personal or cultural ties. ICE detention centers are definitionally the same thing as concentration camps.
We must end deportations without due process, stop third-country removals, and restore transparency and accountability to the system.