Five PA GOP Senate candidates debate in Grove City
Five Republican candidates vying for the Pennsylvania Senate seat engaged in a debate at Grove City College Wednesday evening.
The debate precedes the May 17 primary where a candidate will be chosen to succeed Republican Senator Pat Toomey, who is not running for reelection.
Broadcaster Greta Van Susteren, who has worked for Fox News, CNN and MSNBC and KDKA news anchor Rick Dayton questioned candidates about the draft opinion from the Supreme Court that could overturn Roe v. Wade, illegal immigration and the energy industry in Pennsylvania.
Van Susteren said that all candidates claimed to be pro-life and asked how they felt regarding the recent leak of Supreme Court documents.
Four of the candidates — Kathy Barnette, who formerly served in the U.S. Army; Carla Sands, an ambassador for Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands; Jeff Bartos, who ran for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania in 2018; and David McCormick, former CEO of one of the world’s largest hedgefunds — indicated they intend take their pro-life beliefs to Washington.
While multiple other candidates noted that Mehmet Oz had expressed pro-choice views in the past, Oz too said he believes life begins at conception and should be protected.
When asked how to address the immigration crisis, Barnette, Oz and McCormick all cited securing the Mexican border as their main line of defense.
“We need to deal with the southern border,” Oz said. “It’s funding a cartel of human trafficking. It’s a traffic profit center.”
“We have a fentanyl problem in PA, and it starts with the border,” McCormick said.
Barnette, when asked how to keep people from moving out of Pennsylvania, said they need to stabilize the economy.
“We need to force the federal reserve and stabilize the dollar ... that’s how we keep people in PA,” she said.
Sands and Bartos were asked if they supported subsidizing green energy in Pennsylvania. Both stated the answer to all energy problems, including high gas prices, lies under Pennsylvanians’ feet.
“We need to get back to energy dominance so we don’t need to buy from others,” Sands said. “I support all kinds of energy. I’m all about energy because we need low-priced energy in PA.”
“We need to unlock the energy under our feet,” Bartos said. “I spent the pandemic saving small businesses. It starts with energy. My solemn duty is to fight for energy and Pennsylvania’s number one industry, agriculture.”
McCormick and Sands were asked if they thought China should pay reparations for the COVID-19 pandemic. Both candidates answered the affirmative.
“Yes, and they should pay fentanyl reparations, because that’s where it’s coming from,” McCormick said.
In closing remarks, all candidates spoke about why they would be the best choice for U.S. Senate for Pennsylvania.
“I am you, PA,” Barnette said. “And like you, I believe this country is in trouble.”
“I’m running to save the America I love from slipping away,” McCormick said. “I’ve been America first my whole life.”
Bartos said his hometown of Reading is suffering because of “career politicians that simply didn’t care.”
“This campaign has never been about me. We cannot trust a seat to people who came here six months ago,” he said.
Sands asked for votes, pledging to be a “faith-filled person in the Senate,” and Oz said he has “what it takes to take on Washington.”
