Congress candidates debate
Incumbent Jim Jordan of Ohio’s 4th congressional district’s focus during Tuesday’s congressional debate with challenger Shannon Freshour was preserving America, its rights and its liberty while Freshour’s emphasis was serving the state that helped her family overcome tough times growing up.
The two faced off on Tuesday in a joint partnership between New Bremen New Knoxville and St. Marys Rotary clubs as the two answered questions submitted from members and the public. Rotarian Randy Elsass was the moderator.
In her opening statements, Freshour stated that Ohio was in a bad place financially because of the pandemic with lost jobs and struggling small businesses.
“I come from a family where my mom was on welfare when I was born,” she said. “She left an abusive marriage so my brother and I could live a better life and to do this; the taxpayers of Ohio supported our family, they gave my mom job training that allowed her to get off welfare and it allowed for us to have school lunches.
“It allowed me to be a Head Start student and it allows me to be standing here today to take that responsibility and trust that the people of Ohio have given to me and repay the people and the taxpayers by being the best public servant I can be.”
But she also highlighted that she wants to ensure that programs have a safety net in place after the pandemic exploited all of the problems Ohio had before.
“I want to ensure that people have health care,” she added. “I want to make sure that people have jobs. We have a food and security crisis in this country and this state. We have farmers who are dumping their food and their product because they can’t put it to market.
“These things can be solved, but they need bold leadership.”
Jordan has been the U.S. Representative for Ohio’s 4th congressional district since 2007 and was first elected to serve Ohio in 1994 as he runs for
another term.
In his opening statement, Jordan said the 2020 election hinges on one fundamental question — can America remain America?
“I think President Trump is going to win, I think the Republicans are going to take back the House and keep the Senate,” he said. “But just imagine if it’s the other way around. If it is President Biden, if its leader [Chuck] Schumer and if its speaker [Nancy] Pelosi — imagine where they will take this.
“Think about the last several months. Democratic governors, Democratic mayors would not let you go to church, wouldn’t let you go to work, wouldn’t let you attend a loved one’s funeral, but you can protest, riot and loot all you want. Think about all of the crazy policies you have seen from the left. I have seen a lot of crazy things from the left but I’ve never seen anything as ridiculous as defunding the police. This is the new left and where they want to take you.”
The first question addressed social security being reviewed and putting into the question the continuation of benefits. Jordan said having social security is a sacred promise the government made to its citizens and the government must preserve and protect it. Freshour countered saying Jordan lied, stating that the congressman supported President Donald Trump’s budget that called for an $800 billion cut to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and added that the president’s social security fund plan — also supported by Jordan, she noted — will bankrupt the fund by 2023.
“We need to elect people who are going to protect Social Security, who have a history of fighting to protect Social Security,” Freshour added.
Jordan said he is prolife and believes in the protection of human life and protection of the unborn as that fundamental value was one of the first things Jordan ran on when he first ran to be a representative in the state’s 85th House district. Freshour said she is pro-choice, adding that she believes no one has the right to decide for a woman what’s best for her when it should be a decision between a woman and her doctor.
“These are complicated issues and they should not be handled in a political sphere, these are medical decisions,” she said. “And if we have learned anything in this pandemic, we can’t trust politicians with our medical advice. They don’t do it well.”
Concerning politicians making decisions on the public’s health, Freshour pointed to the president and several White House staff members who are either infected with the coronavirus or are quarantining because of the president’s advocacy for opening up the country despite a global pandemic as millions continue to contract the virus and thousands continue to die from it.
“We need to make sure that people are safe and we need to make sure that people wear masks,” Freshour said. “We need to make sure that for businesses to open, we are all doing our part. Mr. Jordan says that we should open everything up and if we open everything up we are going to kill thousands and thousands of extra people.”
Jordan countered by stating that the U.S Constitution is not suspended during a crisis — adding that the idea of telling people they cannot engage in their livelihood, can’t go to a loved one’s funeral or go to church but can instead protest, riot and loot.
“Florida has 22 million and New York has 20 million people,” he said. “Florida is largely open now and guess which state has more hospitalizations and more deaths? New York, which is still largely locked down. So you can do this in a safe way where you can protect people but you also protect their livelihood, their business they engage in and their constitutional liberties.”
Jordan noted that society now is turned into a “cancel culture” — a world the left wants people to live in, according to the congressman, and silence the first amendment.
“Today’s left doesn’t even want you to speak,” Jordan said when asked about the difference between All Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter. “Not only do they want you to be silent, now they’re saying if you don’t agree with me, if you don’t assent and say what I want you to say, we are also going to attack you for that.
“Look at sports, the left ruins everything it touches.”
Jordan added examples when New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees made the statement about players should stand for the National Anthem or when Houston Rockets basketball player James Harden was criticized for wearing a “back the blue” mask or when Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy was criticized for wearing a One America News Network T-shirt. OAN is a far-right cable news channel.
Jordan noted what a former New York Times editor said if anyone questions what Jordan refers to as the left or the mob, the editor termed the phrase “the digital thunder dome” where people will be attacked every which way.
“The cancel culture determines what can be said in this country,” Jordan added. “I want to follow the First Amendment that works [but] that’s not what we have when you let the mob control things.”
Freshour countered by saying that everyone lives in a society where people are equipped to handle all of the social ills while also holding the responsibility to ensure a more equal and just society.
“Mr. Jordan likes to talk about rioting and looting,” Freshour said. “He doesn’t like to talk about the fact that the majority of that, according to the FBI and federal and local law enforcement, is being done by a right-wing extremist where something like 97% of Black Lives Matter rallies were peaceful.”
Both candidates then tackled mail-in ballots.
Freshour cited Ohio’s Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, saying earlier in the day on CNN that the state has been voting by mail for 20 years and mail-in ballots have only become an issue because the Republican Party has made it out to be one.
“Republicans are scared that people are not going to vote for them and if they can eliminate people from voting, if they can strip you from your right to vote and your right to make a free choice, then they don’t have to give up power,” she said. “This is all about power.”
Jordan rebutted by stating that candidates are supposed to win an election on Election Day, not after it — asking why one party thinks it is OK to count ballots days after Election Day even if the board of elections cannot distinguish the postmark on the envelope the ballot was received in.
“That is exactly what is happening in Pennsylvania,” he said. “… Let’s be honest, the Democrats know the president is going to win on election night. What they want to do is keep looking and finding and counting on the days and weeks after because that is the only way they think they can win.”
In her final remarks, Freshour tried to relate to voters saying that she knew where they were coming from, adding that she is not a multimillionaire kid who’s always had everything handed to her.
“I’ve worked hard for the things that I’ve gotten and I’ve gotten help from the government at times and I just really want to be able to pay back the taxpayers of Ohio for the trust that you have ensured in me,” she said. “And I want to make sure that we have a representative who represents this district and not 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”
Jordan says he takes the oath to defend the Constitution very seriously but is nervous about the direction the “radical left” is taking the country, particularly when it comes to American freedoms and liberties.
“It’s not just the normal bad things the left will do, it’s not just raising your taxes, increasing regulations, coming after your energy and making it more difficult to run your business,” Jordan said. “It’s what they will do to your liberty and your freedom.”