Maria Cantwell and Raul Garcia face off in debate for U.S. Senate

KIRO 7 hosted a debate Thursday between candidates for the U.S. Senate — incumbent Democrat Senator Maria Cantwell and Republican challenger Dr. Raul Garcia, an emergency room doctor from Yakima.

Affordable housing

Cantwell: So this crisis that we have in the inflation rate, impacting housing, is that we haven’t built enough supply. We need to build more affordable housing across the United States of America. I had a sheriff in Eastern Washington tell me he tried to hire a deputy who accepted the job, but then basically called back and said, even in my rural county, I can’t afford to live there, so I am the leader in the United States Senate, with a Republican colleague, Todd Young of Indiana, to increase the capacity of the affordable low-income housing tax credit. This tax credit is 95% of the affordable housing that gets built gets built with this tax credit.

Garcia: I want to come up with something that, according to results, bringing science into politics has worked. VA loans have worked because veterans don’t have to come up with a down payment to buy a house. I want to turn that into the regular public, let’s have programs with our lenders so that our regular citizens could afford to buy a house without a down payment. They still have to qualify, but in our economy today, it’s very hard to come up with a down payment. The other idea is zero-based regulations. Let’s start building more homes with less obstacles so we can find a true solution.

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Abortion

Cantwell: I think a woman’s right to choose is a constitutional right to privacy. I would hope all Washingtonians would view this as an issue of our freedom. This should be a decision between a woman and her physician, not a politician, not somebody in government. My opponent will definitely cast a vote for a Republican leader and their agenda in Washington is to stop Roe v Wade. They, in fact, are often leaders in trying to stop even IVF. So what I want to do is go back to Washington and fight to codify Roe v Wade into national law.

Garcia: The voters of Washington state have made it very clear that this is a pro-choice state, and as your next United States Senator, I am going to protect and defend that choice. I know that Dobbs decision has caused a lot of anxiety and mistrust in our government, and I’m asking every woman in the state of Washington to trust who I am and what I have stood for. I am the physician that has prescribed contraceptives. I’m the physician that has been there at a bedside when a mother had her daughter raped by her uncle, a husband, had her his wife almost dying of an ectopic pregnancy.

Prioritizing country over party and protecting democracy

Cantwell: I had to do this. I actually saw people storm the Capitol. I saw the discourse that came from people just getting on cable TV every night and just arguing instead of trying to solve problems. I made a commitment that I knew that our state didn’t send me there to just argue. You sent me to get things done. And so we passed one of the most monumental pieces of legislation, the CHIPS and Science Act, in the aftermath of that attack on our capitol. Why? It was a very important policy. It was bring the supply chain home, don’t be over-dependent on Taiwan, drive down the cost of things, unleash manufacturing. There’s thousands of chips in cars, in computers and planes. It was important.

Garcia: You know, I’ve already said a couple of times, and I’m a Dan Evans Republican, and he said, I’d rather cross the aisle than cross the people of Washington, and that’s what I intend to do in the United States Senate with hard decisions, talking about abortion, talking about climate change, talking about the topics that usually my party doesn’t have great answers to so far, well, I want to bring my scientific mind to politics and be a bipartisan group that is proud to be Americans.

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Immigration: Would you support border bill if it came up in Congress?

Cantwell: We do want to increase border security. It was a compromise I have voted for, I think, four or five different compromises for border security, starting way back with Larry Craig an Idaho senator and Ted Kennedy and so, once again, a very constructive bipartisan bill that would have put more resources into protecting our border got killed by Republicans who would rather campaign on the issue than actually solve the issue.

Garcia: The Dreamers came to this country under 18, not to their fault that they broke the law, and I don’t know why we haven’t given them citizenship already. The other individuals that have been here that did break the law, but have lived great lives here are our neighbors. We don’t even know that they’re illegal. We should have a path to legalization, maybe a permanent residency, and for those that break the law, no, you won’t come to our country to break the law. I understand that Washington state, our economy, relies on immigrants. That’s why I’m a big proponent of H-2B and H-2A workers, and I will always support immigrants in this country and be a champion of them.

Climate change

Cantwell: We have been able to successfully diversify our grid from 52% reliant on coal on a national basis, down to 19%. I have helped in those policies that have been sent clean energy, wind, solar, biofuels.

Garcia: Our country has the strictest laws on preserving our environment. Let’s bring manufacturing and industries back to America instead of outsourcing it to countries that don’t care.

Get ready to vote! Washington counties are mailing out general election ballots