By Steve Klamkin WPRO News
The WPRO debate between congressional candidates Allan Fung and Seth Magaziner on Friday was, in large part, a reflection of their TV ads over the last several weeks, hammering each other on themes including the economy, gun policies, abortion rights, the environment, social security and public safety.
Democrat Magaziner charged several times that Republican Fung was beholden to corporate contributors, including the drug, oil and gun industries, and that the campaign wasn’t about the two of them.
“It’s about the people of Rhode Island who are working hard, who are struggling, and who deserve to have somebody in Washington who is going to be a champion for them, not for the special interests,” said Magaziner, the current state General Treasurer.
“Seth’s campaign has been doing nothing but mud slinging from day one,” said Fung, the former Cranston mayor who twice ran unsuccessfully for governor.
“I’ve proven that I’ve been a champion for people, doing it by implementing common sense solutions, working across the aisle,” he said.
Moderator Bill Bartholomew introduced a new wrinkle, asking the pair what “brick and mortar” projects in the second Congressional district that they would fund once elected and in Washington, D.C.
Democrat Magaziner said that he would prioritize public colleges and universities, “The key to how we succeed economically in Rhode Island is by making sure that higher education is accessible and affordable, like the the research that’s happening at URI, that could be an economic engine for our state.”
Republican Fung said that he would bolster “infrastructure towards all of our ports.” pointing out that at Quonset Point, Galilee, “we’ve got a great chain of businesses up and down, manufacturers, commercial, that rely upon the waterways for their supply chains. We’ve got to do what’s needed so that they can get their products out and about to different parts of the country. It’s critical.”
“You can judge us by the company that we keep,” Magaziner said. “Allan Fung’s campaign is being funded by those same companies that are overcharging people on heating oil, overcharging people on gas, overcharging people on prescription drugs, because they know that with him in Congress, nothing’s going to change. I’m going to take on those powerful special interests.”
“I’m also going to take on the extremists from any side of the political spectrum, but particularly on the Supreme Court, where they are rolling back progress, taking back rights that have been on the books for fifty years, and election deniers, who are trying to take control of Congress to pave the return of Donald Trump or another election denier,” Magaziner said.
“Right now, what our country needs is strong leadership and the people in the second Congressional district deserve strong leadership to right this economic ship that’s listing because of the failed policies coming from President Biden and the Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both of whom my opponent wants to continue to lead the ship,” Fung said.
“Most importantly, we also have to keep our neighbors safe in our homes. We’re going to work together when I’m down there to lower the cost of home heating oil, we’re going to lower the cost of gas prices and make sure you can afford to feed your family as you sit around the dining room table. We need to bring common sense, bipartisan work back to Washington, D.C. and bring that successful formula that I had in Cranston, on Park Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue.”
