2026 Voter Guide: Indiana's 3rd Congressional District

Rebecca Green: I am WBOI News Director Rebecca Green, and I am sitting down in studio this morning with Kelly Thompson. Kelly is the Democratic nominee for the District 3 congressional race. Good morning, Kelly. Thank you for being with us.

Kelly Thompson: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

Green: I have just a couple questions for our conversation today. We are asking these questions of both candidates here in this race, and the first question, they're kind of broad, so you can answer them however you feel that you want. Affordability is a big issue here in Northeast Indiana, and around the country right now. There are a number of reasons for this, but how do you see the role of congressional representatives helping solve that problem for people and some of the causes for that?

Thompson: Sure, thank you for this question. So, affordability is a real problem, even though in the media we often hear that it's a hoax. I think everybody living here today understands that life is hard to afford.

It's expensive to stay alive, and so I see the role of Congress is we have the power of the purse. We determine what taxes come in and how those monies are spent. And in that role, we also are the ones who should determine whether or not tariffs are imposed. And so why I tie these things together right now is what we see happening is we are diligently paying our taxes. They are going to Washington D.C. but they are not being spent in our best interest.

So the things that I want to do in order to help families are, like, provide universal childcare. The return on investment on childcare is 10 to one, meaning every dollar that the federal government invests in childcare returns into our economy $10. So to not do it is costing us money. So we've been told that doing the socially just thing isn't the fiscally irresponsible thing, but the truth of the matter is that's a lie. Doing the socially just thing is the fiscally responsible thing. So my plans and policies that you can find on my website are for universal health care that will save every person money and will also save our economy money. The return on investment there is also positive.

I also have a plan for education so that everybody who wants to go to college can go to college, and that we can forgive college debt, not adding any more tax burden to Main Street. And I also understand that childcare and the things that we need can be supplemented by our federal dollars, which will free up dollars in the consumer's pocket so that they can be contributing members of our economy.

That's how these plans and policies have positive ROIs, but what we've also seen is that the president unilaterally imposed tariffs unilaterally, and I can add illegally, as the Supreme Court just ruled in a 6-3 ruling that what he did was illegal. He imposed taxes on the American people without congressional approval. Congress allowed that to happen.

Under my watch, my vote would never allow such a thing to happen. So I'm talking to people, potential voters, every day, whether they voted for Donald Trump in the past or not. They are all upset right now by what it's costing them in order to run their businesses and feed their families.

And we are angry, all of us, because after the Supreme Court ruling, this administration, the Trump administration was ordered to pay back $104 billion to us.*

We are the ones who paid that, but instead they have sent those checks to Nike and Apple and Walmart. So while those big corporations passed on those higher prices to us, so we paid those tariffs, those taxes. They also got the check from the federal government, so they got to double dip while the American people were left holding the tab, trying to figure out how to afford heat, homes, and food.

*Editor's note: Estimates vary on the refund. NPR estimates the Trump Administration will now refund more than $160 billion to companies, here is reporting on how that money is disbursed.

Green: Thank you for that. Data centers intersect the cross section of a number of issues — from farmland preservation, climate change, and energy costs, to whether artificial intelligence is actually something that's needed or sustainable. What needs to happen next?

Thompson: So, in my opinion, and what I think I'm hearing from the constituents of the third district is, we are concerned about a few things unilaterally across party lines. We want to make sure that our air is protected, that our water is protected, and that our land is protected.

What we see happening with data centers right now is the way they are constructed and designed to be built is harmful to our environment.* If we don't have clean air, clean water, clean soil, I don't know what else really matters. If you can't breathe the air, then everything else is kind of secondary. So what I want to see happen is that we put a pause on this for a moment while we design a better way.

I've had people sending me all kinds of ideas, a way to cool them with vegetable oil and all kinds of great out of the box thinking. Because what we know to be true is — AI is coming. It is coming. There's nothing we can do to stop it, even if the United States said today, no more AI. The rest of the world is still going to be developing AI.

What we need is regulation. What we need is education, and what we need are options in order to move forward in a way that we can all still survive, live here, afford our lives, breathe our air, and drink our water. What I'm bumping up against is that our union workers are saying — please don't come out against these data centers because they are jobs for them.

So we have to hear both of these things at the same time. Understand that we need to provide good jobs for our working people, but we also need to protect our environment and we also need to regulate AI. We can walk and chew gum at the same time. I believe we can do these things, so let's do that.

So if you also go to my website, you'll see that I have a jobs program and that I have a green energy program, and these things can all tie together to make sure that our union workers still have great jobs. We can still protect our environment, and we will step in and regulate the, regulate the AI that is coming, whether we like it or not.

*Editor's note: Cornell University mapped the environmental impact of data centers by state. Here is more reporting on how the national environmental footprint of AI has been "notoriously difficult to measure."

Green: Why should voters pick you?

Thompson: I'll tell you why voters should pick me. And you know, I'm not the type of person who likes to talk about herself a whole heck of a lot.

I'm a mother of six, and I'm a grandmother of 13. The whole reason that I'm running for Congress right now is because when Donald Trump won in November of 2024, my big family that is black, white, brown, gay, straight, trans, union worker… my daughter's a single mama of a five-year-old daughter. My mother has stage four breast cancer. I lost a sister to addiction. My brother is a union worker. We are business owners. I have had a nonprofit working with families.

I know what everyone is struggling with right now, and I am so frustrated by the fact that our representative government, the people that we voted for to go to Washington D.C. and fight for us, are doing anything but. They are ignoring us. They are not showing up, and they are not standing up for us against an out-of-control executive branch, which is their primary job. They are to be a firewall. They are to go there and tell D.C. what we need and fight for those things.

But what we have found is the opposite is true. Our representatives are going to Washington D.C. getting their White House-approved rhetoric, their talking points, and coming back and telling us what Washington D.C. wants us to do-it's backwards, it's out of order, it's a breach of contract, and we need a fighter. We need somebody who knows that the reason she's running is because I want to look my 13 grandchildren in the eye and tell them Mimi tried.

I have nine granddaughters. I want each and every one of them to be able to vote and make decisions about their own health care, their own bodies. I want to leave this country and this world free, safe, and have equal opportunity for everyone. And what I'm seeing and witnessing right now is the exact opposite.

So you know what? It's supposed to be a government of the people, by the people, for the people. What we are seeing is it currently is a government of corporations, by corporations, and for corporations.

So we need normal people, working class people who are brave, who won't be bought by big anything, who will stand up for the rights of the people and make sure that our tax dollars that we trust our government with are spent in our best interest. And until we elect people to these positions of power who have actually felt our pain, that is not going to happen.

Green: Anything else you want to add?

Thompson: I will say this, if you are a person who's hung up on labels, I want you to understand that the labels were designed to divide us. You can call me any name you want, but truly, I am Kelly Thompson, a Hoosier wife, mother, and grandmother, business owner, and nonprofit founder. I'm here to fight for you, and I would love to have your vote in October and November.

Green: Thank you so much for coming by and talking with us today.

Thompson: Thank you so much.