WARREN, GADE FACE OFF IN NORFOLK
Topics included police reform, COVID-19 response
Justice, healthcare, and fixing racial disparities dominate debate between U.S. Senate candidates.
During their second debate, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and Republican opponent Daniel Gade sparred over how best to fix racial disparities and inequities in education, healthcare, economic mobility and the criminal justice system.
Recent polls put Warner, a Democrat seeking his third term in the U.S. Senate, comfortably ahead, though he narrowly beat Ed Gillespie in 2014.
Virginia has not elected a Republican to a statewide position since 2009, when Bob McDonnell, of Virginia Beach, won the governor’s race. Polls from Roanoke College, Virginia Commonwealth University and Christopher Newport University place Warner ahead by between 13 to 21 points.
At Saturday evening’s debate, hosted by Norfolk State University, both candidates were largely cordial, a stark difference between Tuesday night’s presidential debate. Gade and Warner, who both wore masks when walking on stage, agreed on a fair number of points.
Both called the militarization of police concerning and said Black Lives Matter was fighting for social justice, and not sowing discord. The two said they do not support defunding police and agreed that violence had no place in protests and that qualified immunity should be reformed.
But there were also clear differences between their visions for how best to approach the coronavirus pandemic and racial disparities. Warner said he supports banning police chokeholds, while Gade argued the technique could be used to avoid more lethal methods. Warner repeatedly
touted the Justice in Policing Act, which he cosponsored, as a comprehensive approach to reform. He said, in some areas, police might need more funding to increase training.
Gade, a professor and a retired Army officer who lost his leg in Iraq in 2005, called Warner a “career politician” and knocked the former governor for approving $50 million in funding cuts from law enforcement when he was in Richmond.
“Police need more funding for training, for body cameras, for ways to do reporting that protect the most vulnerable among us,” Gade said. “And if there is a more evil idea in all of public policy than defunding the police, I don’t know what it is.”
Warner pitched himself as a pro-business moderate with a long record of bipartisan work in the state and the U.S. Senate. He said Gade’s attack on his police fund
ing record was wrong and that he was praised by law enforcement for how he handled a budget shortfall
“Because Virginians know me, I welcome their verdict on November 3 rd ,” Warner said.
The two also faced off on how best to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gade blasted Warner for voting against the Republicans’ past relief package when so many people were in need. Warner argued it did not go nearly far enough, and that localities needed more support to avoid layoffs of city employees and that renters and landlords need money, too.
Gade, who previously advised President George W. Bush on military and disability issues, criticized President Donald Trump a few times throughout the night, saying he badly fumbled a call to disavow white supremacists during Tuesday’s debate after
doing the same following the violent protests in Charlottesville in 2017.
“I disavow racism. I disavow white supremacists,” Gade said. “And if you’re out there, and you happen to be a white supremacist and are watching this right now, I don’t want your vote, I don’t want your money and shame on you.”
The 90-minute debate was moderated by WAVYTV 10 journalists Anita Blanton and Regina Mobley and was closed to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic. Warner previously had called for one of the debates to focus on racial equality and justice and be hosted at a historically black college
Saturday’s debate was the second of three planned before Election Day in November. The two met Sept. 23 in a virtual debate hosted by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and NBC4 Washington.
The final debate is slated for Oct. 13 in Richmond.