Amy Leonard, a single mother of three working as a waitress while pursuing a degree in business administration, told the candidates her state aid was cut when she got a job and asked what they would do help people in her situation.
Pence said he understands what it's like to be raised by a single parent and cited his wife's experience growing up. Gregg said Pence's proposal to promote marriage between one man and one woman leaves out single parents.
"He's got a program he wants to focus on families, but it's only a mom and dad family — married couples," Gregg said. "You know, I'm a single parent too, and I take great offense that his family plan doesn't consider me and my boys a family. Maybe he doesn't think you and your kids are a family either."
Gregg, who has been divorced twice, has raised two sons as a single father. Wednesday's debate marked the first time he has talked extensively about that personal experience in front of a large audience.
Gregg, Pence and Libertarian Rupert Boneham met for their second debate Wednesday night at the University of Notre Dame.
Gregg, a former speaker of the state House of Representatives, and Pence, a current member of the U.S. House of Representatives, continued to spar on most of the same points they hit on in the first debate.
Answering a question from Pence on how he would balance budgets, Gregg noted that he was the only candidate who had balanced a state budget and chastised Pence for voting for federal budgets that increased the national debt.
"I've balanced the budget and I've done it in a bipartisan fashion," Gregg said. "In Indiana, we pay as we go; that's not the D.C. way."
Pence fired back that Indiana carried year-to-year deficits before Gov. Mitch Daniels took office and said the state could not afford Gregg's call for new programs and tax cuts.
"When I look at your plans for more spending and boutique tax cuts, it looks like we're heading to the path of red ink again," Pence said.
Pence has maintained a major fundraising advantage in the race and dominated the airwaves. The latest fundraising tallies showed Pence raised roughly $2 million more than the $1 million Gregg raked in from July through September. And public polling has consistently shown Pence with a double-digit lead over Gregg.
The last of the three gubernatorial debates sponsored by the Indiana Debate Commission is set for Oct. 25 in Fort Wayne.
