The two 2nd Congressional District candidates were separated by perhaps 20 feet on the stage but were far away from each other on what they were bringing to the table.
Incumbent Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew and his Democratic challenger, Joe Salerno, were in fact worlds apart on some of their views, although much nearer on others, such as a pathway to citizenship.
Van Drew and Salerno met for an hour-long debate on Thursday, Oct. 24, in an audience-free forum at Stockton University.
Salerno set his tone in the opening statement, referring to Van Drew by his last name only, saying he was elected as a Democrat in 2108 and left the party to become a lackey for Donald Trump. He said his own candidacy could be summed up in one word.
“To me the one word is advocacy,” he said.
Van Drew said he was committed to working for America and New Jersey, and to keeping vital resources such as the FAA Tech Center and the Coast Guard Training Center in South Jersey.
The congressman also raised the matter of U.S. energy production and rates, linking these to a number of responses. Salerno attempted to tie Van Drew to high energy costs, saying he is trying to make Atlantic City Electric the “boogie man,” adding, “You are the cause of it.”
Van Drew pointed the blame at ACE’s parent company, Exelon. “I’ve lived here about my whole life, and there is a problem,” he said.
ACE’s electricity rates are the highest in New Jersey, which Van Drew said has the highest rates in the nation. He then took the matter international, saying the U.S. is capable of being energy-independent, but blamed the current administration’s policy for the country’s having to import power.
In terms of offshore wind turbines, the congressman again stated he was against such wind farms, saying that many residents oppose them. He said wind power might be good for mainland areas, but turbines have not been tested for a Category 3 hurricane. He said wind turbines hurt everyone, and he believes moving to their use would make rates go up even further.
Salerno challenged Van Drew’s statements about wind energy, saying there are 13,000 offshore wind turbines in operation around the world producing 74 gigawatts of energy.
“We can deliver energy and respect climate change,” he said, “and it doesn’t affect tourism – they can’t see (the turbines).”
Van Drew called for the development of a “basket” of power sources, including nuclear, solar and clean gas.
“The bottom line is (offshore wind) is not good for South Jersey,” he said.
Salerno fired back, saying, “This is just his drill-baby-drill bosses’ (position).”
Regarding sea level rise, both candidates acknowledged it was a problem. Salerno said the rise has caused Sandy Hook to make plans for a 7-foot sea wall. He accused elected officials of keeping their heads in the sand over the matter and said Congress says no to every proposal to fix the problem.
“No one doubts the water level is rising,” Van Drew said, adding that newly proposed New Jersey flood regulations would hurt the local economy.
He said he has done a lot to bring federal funding to South Jersey to help the matter.
“I have brought record money for infrastructure, for pumps, sand, dredging, raising sea walls and beach elevation,” he said.
On illegal immigration, Salerno said he agreed there is a crisis at the southern border, but doesn’t understand why a bipartisan bill to address the matter was killed, saying a measure opposed by Trump was “what Americans sorely needed.”
“That was a bad bill, and it didn’t make it to the Senate,” Van Drew countered.
The congressman said the bill would have codified the influx of 1.8 millions illegal immigrants per year. “It didn’t do anything about all the issues that affect us at the border,” he said.
Van Drew said federal policy was again the matter, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement releasing more than 113,000 murderers and 115,000 sex offenders into American society.
“They have to be sent back. That’s the right thing to do,” he said.
Salerno characterized Van Drew’s position as “mass deportation,” saying the congressman supports Trump’s position.
“This is a dumb solution. Are we going to just round up and deport people paying $100 billion a year in taxes?” he asked.
“A dumb solution is to allow this to occur,” Van Drew replied.
Asked about the fact that immigrants account for 30% of the labor market in New Jersey, Salerno said he would happily support a measure to “e-verify that everyone is here legally or make sure they had a path to legalization.”
“We can’t just build a wall and jettison them over the wall. Let’s be sensible,” he said.
Van Drew said the U.S. has always been a country of immigrants, but he stressed the importance of legal immigration. He said what was crazy was that good people had to wait decades to legally immigrate. He placed the blame for illegal immigration problems on the Democrats.
“They created it, and we are going to have to fix it,” he said.
The pair traded barbs and criticism of stances on certifying the presidential election. Van Drew said he was “fighting for what is right,” and Salerno called it “just fighting.” Salerno said Republican efforts to create a national voter ID was simply a way to suppress voting. Van Drew said would like to make sure everyone who votes in American elections is American.
“It’s already federal law,” Salerno replied.
Asked about the problem of inflation, Van Drew said the so-called Inflation Reduction Act did nothing but lead to the hiring of an additional 87,000 IRS agents, tax the manufacturing sector and help China.
Salerno said it was the Covid-19 pandemic that caused inflation, saying people needed to understand supply-and-demand economics.
Both candidates agreed there is a housing crisis in the United States and that there must be sensible regulations that do not hinder building.
Asked about creating economic opportunities in South Jersey, Van Drew spoke about energy problems and how they are adversely affecting the economy before repeating how he has worked to protect the FAA Tech Center, the Coast Guard Training Center and South Jersey beaches. Salerno said the region needs economic opportunities not tightly correlated to tourism, and pointed out how a $450 billion economic stimulus plan caused investment all around the country, but not in South Jersey.
Both candidates supported the extension of the State And Local Tax Exemption Act, which allows taxpayers to deduct these taxes on their federal returns.
Van Drew raised the issue of Salerno being a recent transplant to the 2nd Congressional District; Salerno said the congressman is now more a resident of Washington, D.C.
“I love South Jersey, and I worked here and raised a family here,” Van Drew countered.
Each man talked about how much support they had from the labor sector. Van Drew again said that many tax dollars are wasted, sent overseas to study “cats on treadmills in Russia” and “tourism in Egypt.”
Salerno worked in another criticism Van Drew. “With this guy it’s that old parlor trick, ‘Vote no and take the dough,’” he said, meaning the congressman votes along with his party leadership.
“The bottom line is I do what I think is right,” Van Drew said.
On abortion, Salerno said it is an issue Van Drew has flipped on, saying he was a pro-choice Democrat in 2018 but now gets high marks from national right-to-life organizations. Van Drew said he was against abortion except in cases of rape or incest. The two clashed on the issue of leaving abortion legislation up to the states; Salerno said it was a way of imposing a national abortion ban.
The challenger said he was against a universal forgiveness of student loans, and Van Drew said there should be “no wholesale forgiveness of student loans.”
Van Drew said he believes Social Security should not be taxed, whereas Salerno said the fund was going to be insolvent by 2035.
Van Drew spoke about taking care of veterans and seniors, while Salerno said his opponent has opposed bills to take care of veterans. Van Drew said he opposed a bill that had a fancy name but did not take care of veterans.
In closing, Salerno said the district needed someone who had the “courage to compromise,” in order to get things done. He said opponents can resolve a clash of interests without compromising principles.
Van Drew said he loves America, saying, “It’s been great to me.”
He called on everyone to come together and be the “shining city on the hill – a beacon of hope and light.”
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
