A busy day Monday for candidates hoping to represent the state of Ohio in the United States Senate.
Monday evening, the Ohio Debate Commission hosted seven candidates in the Republican primary for the seat, being vacated by current senator Rob Portman. Candidates Matt Dolan, Mike Gibbons, Neil Patel, Mark Pukita, Josh Mandel, Jane Timken, and J.D. Vance fielded questions on a variety topics; covering everything from the federal budget to U.S. foreign policy involving Ukraine. The candidates also gave their positions on a key issue already facing lawmakers in Washington; that of immigration at the southern border.
"President Trump was absolutely right when he said it's about our national sovereignty," stated Jane Timken, Republican Senate candidate. "If you don't have a wall and a border, you don't have a country and we have seen reports of those on the terrorist watch lists coming across the southern border, huge amounts of fentanyl, heroin, and meth are coming into our communities right here in Ohio."
"Stop giving welfare to people who come into this country illegally," stated J.D. Vance, Republican Senate candidate. "A lot of this reason why we have nonstop illegal border crossings is because people know we're a generous country, we should always be a generous country but that generosity should only extend to people who have followed our laws and not those who have broken them."
"There are over 40,000 U.S. military veterans who are living on the streets, who are living under bridges, but we've radical policymakers in Washington; Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and others who are taking your tax money and using it to house illegals while we have veterans living on the street. That is outrageous," said Josh Mandel, Republican Senate candidate.
The debate commission will host another debate on Tuesday, this time featuring Nan Whaley and John Cranley, the candidates in the Democratic primary for Ohio governor. At this time, there is no primary debate scheduled for the candidates in the G.O.P. primary for Ohio governor.
You can watch the entire Republican Senate debate at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4AQF4pqZT8
