News 3 aired the first and only debate between Virginia's Second Congressional District candidates: Republican incumbent Jen Kiggans and Democratic challenger Missy Cotter Smasal.
The debate, which kicked off Friday morning at Virginia Wesleyan University, was hosted by the Hampton Roads Chamber. While many of the questions were business-related, the candidates also worked in mentions of their stances on other key issues.
Watch: Full debate between Rep. Jen Kiggans, Missy Cotter Smasal
The following includes three key questions moderator Chris Saxman posed to the candidates during the debate.
State of business in Hampton Roads
Question: “Last night, I had dinner with 20 business leaders. They had invited me to update them on the 2024 elections. The event was truly nonpartisan. During dinner, the organizer posed several questions for everyone to answer about the direction of our nation. Not one answer was positive or hopeful, and they all lamented the state of our two-party system here in America. What is your message to business leaders here in the Hampton Roads region about the future of America?”
Kiggans:
Kiggans attributed concerns that business leaders may have to the current state of the economy, taking issue with the Biden-Harris administration’s spending.
“I will tell you that Republicans have put measures in place that have tried to decrease the spending. That is one thing that we saw overarching–just excessive spending coming out of the Biden-Harris administration, trillions of dollars before the Republicans took the House majority. Our national debt is higher now than ever… We've got to reduce that spending.”
Cotter-Smasal:
In response, Cotter-Smasal said Kiggans hasn’t done enough to improve wages or bring costs down, adding that Kiggans hasn’t focused on helping small business owners and middle-class citizens in Coastal Virginia.
“She has been in Congress for two years. Your prices have only risen during that time. It is harder to stretch the dollar over these past two years. She hasn't delivered for us…”
Port of Virginia; ILA strike
Question: “The Virginian-Pilot editorialized this week that the International Longshoremen’s Association is unrealistic in their demands to ban automation at the Port of Virginia. The Pilot also chastised Governor Glenn Youngkin for urging President Biden to use his authority under the Taft-Hartley Act to order striking longshoremen back to work. What is your solution for this conflict that will ensure the short and long term health of the region's economy?”
Cotter-Smasal:
Regarding the recent ILA strike, Cotter-Smasal said she’s glad the workers and the Port of Virginia reached an agreement to continue operations.
She addressed workers’ concerns regarding the use of automation at the port, saying, in part, “While we need to ensure that we have technology to make us efficient, we need to make sure that we're protecting workers in doing so, I stand with workers in their opportunity to collectively bargain.”
Kiggans:
Kiggans said the strike was a delayed, election year gimmick. She thinks the strike stemmed from a nationwide, economic pinch, citing Democratic policies on spending and inflation as economic stressors.
“I, too [in reference to Gov. Youngkin], signed a bipartisan letter to the Biden administration encouraging them to lean on the players involved so that we could prevent strike. The strike was delayed, in my opinion, it was an election year gimmick that we've simply pushed back the start date of the strike,” said Kiggans. “But I think that, you know, there's an important thing to note here, and that's the reason why workers are striking in the first place… we can go back to the economic security issue.”
Healthcare
Question: “Health insurance premiums are soaring for the second consecutive year. Employer health insurance costs went up 7%. The annual health insurance cost to cover a family of four is now over $25,000. What should Congress do in order to bring down the cost of health care, and thus, health insurance?”
Cotter-Smasal:
Cotter-Smasal spoke about her support for the Affordable Care Act–something she said her opponent wants to repeal.
“I think we need to strengthen options, strengthen competition, and strengthen the Affordable Care Act. That stands in sharp contrast to my opponent, who wants to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, she's actually called for eliminating it,” said Cotter-Smasal.
Kiggans:
Kiggans defended her work on healthcare-related issues, including addressing issues at the Hampton VA Medical Center and working to improve access to mental health resources.
“When I think of my actions that I take on the state level and in Congress, I think of my patient population. That's certainly been a privilege to partner with our families and with our greatest generation, to take care of them. I'm a big believer in primary preventative care. I think it's how we save health care costs going into the future,” said Kiggans.
Abortion
Saxman allowed Kiggans to clarify her stance on abortion after Cotter-Smasal brought up reproductive rights several times, taking issue with Kiggans' voting record when doing so.
Kiggans said the following regarding the issue:
“I've never supported a federal ban on abortion. I've always supported those exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. It's an issue that needs to be treated with more compassion, common sense and consensus. It's also an issue that needs to be legislated and debated at the state level. And I stand by that.”
Cotter-Smasal said in response:
“Jen Kiggans just told you that she thinks politicians should have control over your body. It doesn't matter what level she wants to pretend to kick the can to, she's telling you that she believes politicians know better than women. As women across our country are dying in extreme medical situations because of policies that extremists like you (Kiggans) have put into place. She supports a speaker who calls for a national abortion ban, and she has proven to us over and over again that she will fall in line with whatever her party tells her to do. But on this, I think she truly believes it. She wants to restrict your reproductive rights. I won't let her turn Virginia into Alabama.”
What polls are saying
News 3 senior reporter Brendan Ponton says right now, most analysts have the race leaning Republican in Kiggans' favor, but it's still a close race. The 2022 election was the first since the district was redrawn, with the new district including Virginia Beach, the Eastern Shore, Suffolk, Isle of Wight County, Franklin, and parts of Chesapeake and Southampton County.
Brendan noted that Virginia Beach is very evenly split politically, but other parts of the district are more red.
