The candidates and moderator Bill Pezza.
Credit: Aaron Clark/Fitzpatrick For Congress
The first 20 minutes of the radio debate between Eighth District Congressional candidates was anything but boring Tuesday.
Democratic State Rep. Steve Santarsiero of Lower Makefield and Republican Brian Fitzpatrick of Middletown squared off about their experience, whether they were political insiders and the candidate they support for president.
Moderator Bill Pezza, a Bristol resident and professor at Bucks County Community College, had the candidates introduce themselves on-air on 1490 WBCB-AM before asking their opinions on the economy, their party’s choice for president, how to narrow the income gap, the rising cost of college tuition, international trade, foreign policy and healthcare reform.
After winning a coin toss refereed by WBCB owner and Philadelphia Eagles announcer Merrill Reese, Santarsiero opened the debate by talking about his plan to help the Eighth Congressional District, which covers Bucks County and Montgomery County. He said win or lose, he plans to continue to live in the district, his home for the last 21 years.
Fitzpatrick, a retired FBI agent, spoke of his commitment to the district and his nearly lifelong residency. He said his is from the district (he grew up in Levittown) and is a licensed EMT, accountant and attorney “here” in Pennsylvania.
The remarks were a jab at the Santarsiero campaign’s efforts to make Fitzpatrick appear to be a carpetbagger looking to take his soon-to-be retired congressman brother’s seat. Fitzpatrick and his campaign have fought back during the election to show he is from the area and only spent a short period of his life outside of the Eighth Congressional District while on assignment for the FBI.
“I’m coming into the this race with a very different perspective,” Fitzpatrick said, adding he is not a partisan candidate and wished to represent the people of the district no matter their political affiliation.
During the debate, Fitzpatrick noted several times that his views did not always align with the Republican party’s. He told Pezza that he was not afraid to break from the party to do what he felt was the right thing for the district.
Before the response period to first question was over, Santarsiero and Fitzpatrick were sparring.
Santarsiero called Fitzpatrick the a political insider while the Republican tried to paint himself as the political outsider the district needs.
“No one else would have been able to parachute into this district just eight months ago and suddenly become the Republican nominee,” Santarsiero said, adding that Fitzpatrick only is the Republican candidate because of who is brother is.
Santarsiero, a former lawyer and teacher raised in northern New Jersey, defended his time in Harrisburg and said two bills he authored were used to create ethics rules and as an amendment to the state fiscal code.
“For me, it’s always been about public service,” he said.
Santarsiero told Fitzpatrick he served his community during his time as a state representative and mentioned his service following Hurricane Sandy’s devastation.
Pezza steered the debate onto each party’s nominee for president.
Santarsiero spoke of Hillary Clinton’s work in the Senate and time as secretary of state before moving to attacking Donald Trump.
“To me, there is no choice between the two,” he said.
When asked by Pezza about the questions raised concerning the Democratic presidential candidate and the Clinton Foundation, Santarsiero said those issues have been “hashed out” in the press during the campaign.
“Since Steve took the entire time not answering the question … I’ll talk about Hillary Clinton right now,” Fitzpatrick rebutted.
The Republican congressional candidate remarked he fully realizes that “we are going to elect a president with an over 50 percent unapproval rating. That makes me sad as an American.”
While not openly voicing his support for Trump during the debate, Fitzpatrick spoke several times about how Trump was not his ideal choice. He said in the primary he supported Republican John Kasich, the governor of Ohio who recently fund raised on Fitzpatrick’s behalf.
“Essentially he is a third-party candidate running inside the Republican party,” Fitzpatrick said of Trump, who is a former Democrat before becoming a Republican.
Pezza pushed the two candidates away from the feisty exchange and asked a question about narrowing the income gap.
Santarsiero said he feels the government needs to mandate an increase to the minimum wage. He also believes in a planned effort to create investments that put Americans back to work and spur new workforce development programs.
Fitzpatrick noted that wages are down and the national debt is growing. He said both issues needed to be tackled in the coming years.
“We need to fix our economy for students coming out,” he said.
A question about rising student debt drew interesting responses from both candidates.
Santarsiero, a former teacher and a father, said the biggest challenge for high school students is paying for college. He said staggering debts mean graduates can’t buy houses or other products that support the economy. One thing Santarsiero said the country needs is a “national discussion on it.”
Fitzpatrick, who considers public education spending an “investment,” laid out a plan to tie public funding of colleges and universities to audits that would disclose how their money is being spent. The audits would look at where public money went and scrutinize any spending not put toward educating students.
Santarsiero rebutted that audits were not enough and the federal government was needed to help push tuition rates down.
In response to a question about trade agreements and the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, Santarsiero said he would look to make deals that support Americans. He added that he would work to make deals that don’t suck up all the jobs for Americans.
Fitzpatrick had a similar response and said he was against unfair trade deals that benefit other countries over America. He said lower wages and lower environmental regulations in other countries can make it hard for American to compete in some trade deals.
Moving to foreign policy related to North Korea’s recent aggressions, both candidates said they would support America’s allies.
Fitzpatrick stated that the “lack of American leadership around the world” has led to foreign policy problems. He said change is needed in Washington to repair America’s standing.
Pezza finished the roughly hour-long debate by thanking the two candidates and said they conducted themselves as gentlemen.
Santarsiero said in his closing statement that he has focused his career on community service and will continue to do so if elected.
“We need a change of direction in this country,” Fitzpatrick told voters in his closing statement.
At a planned October 13 debate at Bucks County Community College, Pezza said immigration and gender equality will come up as questions.
“Brian Fitzpatrick’s message of protecting our community, rebuilding our economy and ending the status quo of career partisan politicians was the clear winner in this debate because it transcended partisanship and focused on solutions,” Fitzpatrick campaign spokesman Aaron Clark said following the debate.
Santarsiero’s campaign manager had a different point of view following the radio debate that was hosted by WBCB and the Lower Bucks County Chamber of Commerce.
“Steve Santarsiero highlighted his experience of working for this community and a vision of the future. Meanwhile Brian Fitzpatrick was defensive and antagonistic at having to defend Donald Trump and out of touch Republican policies that would hurt seniors, women and working families,” said Eric Goldman, the Democrat’s campaign manager.
If you missed the debate, WBCB has put the audio online.
