Correction appended.
Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, and Democratic challenger Rick Neal got into a contentious debate Tuesday at Ohio University and took jabs at each other over issues like health care, LGBT rights and civility.
Neal, a Columbus native will try and unseat Stivers to represent Ohio’s 15th Congressional District on Nov. 6. Athens County is one of 12 counties in the district that Stivers has held for four consecutive terms since beating Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy in 2011.
The first question asked whether they support President Donald Trump’s proposal saying he wants to order an end to the constitutional right to citizenship for babies born in the United States to non-citizen immigrants.
Neal said that Trump is just trying to rile up the Republican base before the elections by slandering and demonizing immigrants. He proposed that the U.S. needs to work towards giving aid to the countries where these immigrants are from to help reduce uncontrolled migration.
“I oppose it, but it's not really up to me is it?” Neal said. “It's up to the Constitution.”
Stivers agreed that changing birthright citizenship is not the right way to fix immigration in the U.S., and said making an executive order to change a constitutional amendment is wrong. Stivers said he wants to see policies that secure the border, stop family separation, give legal status to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and fix the legal immigration system.
“There is a better way forward on immigration and I don’t think we should focus on the things that divide us,” he said.
Despite what seemed like an agreeable start to the debate, things quickly took a turn. The candidates disagreed or had an argument for every question that followed.
Stivers was asked about his job as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and how it promotes and funds campaign advertisements that are divisive. Joe Hallett, the moderator of the debate, also asked Stivers about a recent advertisement used in a Minnesota Republican campaign that is said to have used anti-semitic imagery.
Stivers said he asks that all ads that are funded by the NRCC are truthful and fair, but his role in the NRCC does not involve making the ads. Stivers quoted an article from The Columbus Dispatch which says that Neal's claims are “dubious.”
Neal responded to this by saying that the imagery targeted at George Soros, a Jewish philanthropist and liberal donor, contained triggers that the Anti Defamation League cites as anti-Semitic. Neal said that the civility that Stivers promotes sounds more like compliance and that people need to stand up for things even if it means protesting in the streets.
“That's not incivility when you are standing up for your democracy. That’s patriotism,” Neal said.
Later in the debate, a question from the audience continued the conversation on civility and asked how the country can heal and become less polarized.
Stivers answered by citing how he was ranked the 37th most bipartisan member of Congress and how all the bills he sponsors have a Democratic cosponsor.
“I can’t make campaigns perfect or avoid campaigns getting some contrast because that is what campaigns are about,” Stivers said. “But when we are governing we have to work together.”
Both candidates were also asked about if they would support protections against discrimination of LGBT people including areas such as employment, housing and eligibility to adopt children.
Stivers said he believes everyone should be protected and that he has a record of supporting LGBT rights. He said there are bills in Congress today that would address these things and he would support them, but he needs to dig into the legal questions more.
“Whether you are in the LGBT community or any community you should be able to adopt children and have employment and housing,” Stivers said. “Hopefully we can all come together to make sure everyone feels safe and secure in our country.”
Stivers’ response visibly angered Neal. The Humans Rights Campaign gave Stivers a zero on their congressional report card for every scorecard, Neal said.
“I cannot tell you how disappointed and angry I am that that is the case, Steve,” Neal said. “You have to work to get a zero.”
Other topics discussed at the debate included job growth in Southeast Ohio, sustainability of social security and medicare, gerrymandering, abortion and the potential impeachment of President Donald Trump.
The debate took place at Nelson Court and was moderated by Hallett, a retired reporter from The Columbus Dispatch, the Toledo Blade and the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspapers. It was the final of two debates before the 2018 midterm elections on Nov. 6.
Correction: A previous version of this report misstated the name of the National Republican Congressional Committee. The article has been updated to reflect the most accurate information.
