Democrat Gubernatorial nominee Jill Long Thompson visited the White Steamer Tuesday to eat and tell fellow Democrats what they can do to help her win in November.

Long Thompson, along with State Rep. Dennie Oxley, D-English, is seeking to replace Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman in the general election.

“I believe as well as Dennie does that Indiana has tremendous promise and its going to take the right leadership to make it happen,” Thompson said.

The White Steamer stop is part of a “Hoosier Hometown Tour,” aimed at small cities and towns. Long Thompson had strong words about Daniels and his policies.

She is a former member of Congress and an undersecretary for Rural Development at the Department of Agriculture. She said her experience would create a better tax plan for individuals and business.

“We have lost ground thanks to the Daniels administration,” Long Thompson said. “We have lost about 30,000 jobs since the first of the year.”

Long Thompson also wants to make health insurance a priority, requiring companies that sell insurance in the state to make insurance affordable to small businesses.

“You have a family-owned business, you can buy health insurance at the same rates the large corporations pay,” Long Thompson said. “We can make a few dents in those costs and make health insurance affordable.”

Oxley, the majority whip in the House, said they will win in November.

“We don’t need, anymore, a governor that goes around the state telling how rosy things are,” Oxley said. “When actually, we working Hoosiers, know things are much different.”

Some questions from the assorted Democrats included the lease of the Indiana Toll Road. Long Thompson said if elected, her administration would look at the contract that leased the toll road for $3.8 billion over 100 years.

Thompson said that after 15 to 20 years, the foreign consortium will earn back its costs and has the authority to raise its tolls.

“That means between 55 to 60 years, there will be pure profit for that Spanish-Austrailian consortium,” Long-Thompson said. “I think that’s un-American frankly.”

After the meeting, Long-Thompson said her campaign is going well after low name recognition at the start and a hard primary battle with Jim Schellinger.

“I think across the state, Hoosiers are concerned about the direction Governor Daniels is taking the state,” Long Thompson said. “It’s not that they dislike him, it’s just his policies are not working and are just struggling.”