LANAKIS--Veroche Governor Linda Van Auhn (N) spent much of the evening defending her record, as a somewhat mellowed Lt. Governor Brad Davidson (C) took issue with her policies in the first of three debates between the two candidates.
The economy dominated Thursday night's debate, which was held in north Lanakis and sponsored by are television stations and newspapers.
During the 90-minute debate, Davidson attacked Van Auhn for a 10% unemployment rate, a more than $9 billion budget deficit, and high taxes.
"Veroche has some of the highest business taxes in the nation," Davidson said. "And with 10% of our state's residents out of work, we need to be encouraging business growth and new jobs. Not taxing people out of their businesses."
Van Auhn defended her record, acknowledging the troubling high unemployment rate, but blaming the economy on the recession.
"No one's disputing that we are in a tough situation," she said. "Too many Verocheans are out of work. And our economy is still struggling. But we suffered the worst economic recession since the 1930's. It is going to take a while to dig out of this hole that we got into, that began forming years before I took office," she said.
Van Auhn also pointed to improvements in the economy.
"We have seen job growth tick up in the past few months. We had the lowest number of unemployment claims last month in the past year and a half. We are seeing the national economy improve, and that will make its way here to Veroche in time. The economy is on the upswing, but it's going to take time, not political rhetoric," Van Auhn said.
"No governor, it's going to take action, not empty promises," Davidson snapped back.
Davidson emphasized that the best way to stimulate job growth is by lowering taxes.
Van Auhn argued that she has lowered taxes on some small businesses, but refused to do so on large corporations.
"We're not going to climb out of a recession by giving tax breaks to the wealthy corporations. They're doing just fine right now."
On the deficit, Davidson called for cuts without raising taxes, while Van Auhn said some cuts could be made but others would be devastating.
"The budget that you're proposing is going to cut critical funding to programs that are vital to our state," Van Auhn said, pointing to the lieutenant governor. "Under his budget, things like emergency response, education, healthcare assistance, those programs will take the brunt of these cuts."
Davidson responded, calling Van Auhn's assertions "refutably false."
"I have never proposed cutting emergency response and critical services. We will not cut those programs or undermine them if I'm governor. But we will cut back on overly-generous retirement plans for state workers. There's no reason for our state workers to be seeing huge benefits and increases in pay while the rest of the state is struggling," Davidson said.
He added that he would go after fraud in the state's healthcare assistance programs, and he would trim education programs that are not working.
"Governor Van Auhn wants you to think I will gut important programs and public safety and education. But that's just not true. It's a shameless scare tactic."
Both candidates agreed more focus needs to be put on solving traffic congestion in the greater Lanakis-Verdonnen--Kanassett area. And both agreed that charter schools should be available for parents who feel their children are not getting an adequate education in the public school system, though they disagreed on how to regulate them.
While side issues came up, the economy clearly was the dominant topic in the discussion, and both candidates ended their closing statements vowing to improve the economy.
"This election is about jobs. And getting ourselves out of the fiscal hole that we're in. We can't get out of the hole when Linda Van Auhn refuses to put down the shovel and stop digging," Davidson said.
"Attacks and cleverly-crafted sound bites aren't going to fix this economy," said Van Auhn." We're only going to fix things by coming together, and uniting. Not through the divisive politics of my opponent."
The economy dominated Thursday night's debate, which was held in north Lanakis and sponsored by are television stations and newspapers.
During the 90-minute debate, Davidson attacked Van Auhn for a 10% unemployment rate, a more than $9 billion budget deficit, and high taxes.
"Veroche has some of the highest business taxes in the nation," Davidson said. "And with 10% of our state's residents out of work, we need to be encouraging business growth and new jobs. Not taxing people out of their businesses."
Van Auhn defended her record, acknowledging the troubling high unemployment rate, but blaming the economy on the recession.
"No one's disputing that we are in a tough situation," she said. "Too many Verocheans are out of work. And our economy is still struggling. But we suffered the worst economic recession since the 1930's. It is going to take a while to dig out of this hole that we got into, that began forming years before I took office," she said.
Van Auhn also pointed to improvements in the economy.
"We have seen job growth tick up in the past few months. We had the lowest number of unemployment claims last month in the past year and a half. We are seeing the national economy improve, and that will make its way here to Veroche in time. The economy is on the upswing, but it's going to take time, not political rhetoric," Van Auhn said.
"No governor, it's going to take action, not empty promises," Davidson snapped back.
Davidson emphasized that the best way to stimulate job growth is by lowering taxes.
Van Auhn argued that she has lowered taxes on some small businesses, but refused to do so on large corporations.
"We're not going to climb out of a recession by giving tax breaks to the wealthy corporations. They're doing just fine right now."
On the deficit, Davidson called for cuts without raising taxes, while Van Auhn said some cuts could be made but others would be devastating.
"The budget that you're proposing is going to cut critical funding to programs that are vital to our state," Van Auhn said, pointing to the lieutenant governor. "Under his budget, things like emergency response, education, healthcare assistance, those programs will take the brunt of these cuts."
Davidson responded, calling Van Auhn's assertions "refutably false."
"I have never proposed cutting emergency response and critical services. We will not cut those programs or undermine them if I'm governor. But we will cut back on overly-generous retirement plans for state workers. There's no reason for our state workers to be seeing huge benefits and increases in pay while the rest of the state is struggling," Davidson said.
He added that he would go after fraud in the state's healthcare assistance programs, and he would trim education programs that are not working.
"Governor Van Auhn wants you to think I will gut important programs and public safety and education. But that's just not true. It's a shameless scare tactic."
Both candidates agreed more focus needs to be put on solving traffic congestion in the greater Lanakis-Verdonnen--Kanassett area. And both agreed that charter schools should be available for parents who feel their children are not getting an adequate education in the public school system, though they disagreed on how to regulate them.
While side issues came up, the economy clearly was the dominant topic in the discussion, and both candidates ended their closing statements vowing to improve the economy.
"This election is about jobs. And getting ourselves out of the fiscal hole that we're in. We can't get out of the hole when Linda Van Auhn refuses to put down the shovel and stop digging," Davidson said.
"Attacks and cleverly-crafted sound bites aren't going to fix this economy," said Van Auhn." We're only going to fix things by coming together, and uniting. Not through the divisive politics of my opponent."
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