U.S. Senate candidates Curtis Bashaw, a Republican, and Democratic Rep. Andy Kim sparred on issues ranging from abortion rights to immigration policy in the first of their three scheduled debates on Sunday evening, Oct. 6.
In the debate, sponsored by the New Jersey Globe, Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, asked the candidates about women’s rights and abortion.
“Women’s rights have been revoked by an extremist Supreme Court,” Kim said, then referring to Amber Thurman, 28, who died allegedly because doctors delayed care based on Georgia’s six-week abortion ban.
“The Constitution provides for rights for women to choose.”
Bashaw agreed, saying he would “work on the federal level to enshrine women’s right to choose.”
“I am pro-choice,” Bashaw, a South Jersey businessman and first-time candidate, said, adding that he believes the federal government should codify the right for women to have an abortion, in the same way it codified gay marriage, referring to his husband of 22 years.
“The government interfering in medical decisions is not right,” he said.
Kim, however, was not convinced of Bashaw’s stance on abortion, saying he is changing the position he held in the June primaries. Kim, a third-term congressman from the 3rd District, said Bashaw backed presidential candidate Donald Trump, who when he was president appointed a conservative majority that reversed Roe v. Wade.
“Now in the general election you’ve changed your position,” Kim said.
Bashaw said he has always been pro-choice, saying, “The government shouldn’t be in our homes telling us what to do,” relating his point to sexual orientation as well.
“The court found gay marriage to be a fundamental right.”
Kim said he is the son of immigrants and is married to an immigrant, and that he worked in national security with the Department of State during the Obama administration. He said there should be orderly control of borders while the government works to fix fundamental problems with immigration, including a shortage of judges to hear immigration cases.
Bashaw challenged Kim’s commitment to improving the immigration situation, saying he has voted against seven border security measures. He said as a result of policies that he associated with the Biden/Harris administration, New Jersey now has 900,000 illegal immigrants living within its borders.
“I am pro-immigration,” Bashaw said, referring to the 100 to 200 J-1 students who work for him each year, then added, “The border is a catastrophe.”
Kim and Bashaw seemed to agree on the need to uncouple the issues of immigration and a secure border. Bashaw, however, said Kim was waiting to support the perfect bill to address the matters, while Kim said he wanted to be on a path to move forward.
When asked about the situation in Springfield, Ohio, a town where Trump has accused Haitian immigrants of eating people’s pets, both candidates criticized the comments, with Bashaw saying, “The rhetoric is terrible.” Kim said it was terrible to demonize any group.
On economic matters, Bashaw repeated a plank in his platform, saying, “We can’t spend our way to prosperity” and called for reducing or eliminating regulation of small businesses. He said the federal minimum wage is too low, about half as much as the New Jersey minimum wage. Answering a question about how much a family of four needs to earn to live in New Jersey, Bashaw said between $50,000 and $70,000.
“New Jersey is one of the most expensive places to live,” he said.
Kim said people in the state are struggling with housing costs and suffering in many other ways.
“They are feeling the death from 1,000 cuts – child care, food insecurity … what comes next?” Kim asked, adding there is still a racial wealth gap in New Jersey.
He said some people are paying over 50% of their incomes for housing. He referred to Trump tax cuts for large corporations, pointing out this is a time of great challenges for average Americans.
The candidates each referred to the State and Local Tax deduction, which was capped under the Trump administration. Bashaw said New Jersey ranks third in paying taxes but is 49th in receiving money back from the federal government. He supports restoring the SALT deduction for small businesses, which he called the backbone of the nation.
“People have to build businesses that fund the government. We can’t regulate prosperity and growth,” Bashaw said.
About 12 minutes into the event the debate paused momentarily as Bashaw was answering a question about his economic philosophy. He suddenly froze and stopped speaking. Kim, noticing Bashaw’s seeming inability to continue, walked over and said, “Are you OK?”
After about 10 or 15 minutes, the debate resumed, and Bashaw explained, “I forgot to eat today.” The 90-minute debate continued without further interruption.
Both candidates supported the U.S. funding of the defense of Ukraine but differed somewhat on support for Israel’s efforts to combat Hamas and Hezbollah. Kim spoke about a cease-fire and ending hostilities, whereas Bashaw said that peace comes from strength.
Bashaw blamed hostilities around the world on weakness of the Biden/Harris administration. Kim said it was not the policies of the past few years only that have led to the boldening of Iran in supporting conflict against Israel, including recent missile attacks. He said he did not support a military-only solution in Israel, while calling for the release of hostages.
Concerning economic competition with China, both candidates called for increasing the level of domestic manufacturing, including computer chips.
Both candidates, in addressing questions from college students, called for young people to be civicly engaged. Both objected to the use of the filibuster as a political weapon, while not calling for its termination.
Bashaw said the Senate confirmation process for judges and cabinet members should not be used as an ideological litmus test. Kim, however, said Trump had made Supreme Court appointments that were contrary to fundamental beliefs and “out of line with New Jersey.”
Both candidates expressed a desire for universal background checks for gun ownership and safety from gun violence in schools. Bashaw said he is a licensed gun owner, but feels there should be stricter control of sales at gun shows. Both candidates expressed the desire to keep the Affordable Care Act, but want to make it better, with Kim mentioning lower-cost prescription prices and more elder care.
Both candidates said they would vote to certify the election results no matter who the successful presidential candidate is.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
