the ways in which we can stop segregation and stop the perpetuity of poverty in this country and, so, while i do not think i believe in reparations, i do think that we need to understand how not to repeat history and how to break the cycle of poverty in our country and that includes poverty across all races. white folks are black folks and everyone in between. we need to make sure that we are understanding why poverty seems to be generational and what we can do as a country to break it because of every child born of poverty, they have a lower quality of life, lower life expectancy, worse health outcomes, worse educational outcomes. nothing of the humanitarian problem there. it is a complete and tragic loss of human capital. >> congressman. >> my opponent supports getting rid of the electoral college. she wants to change the constitution. that was set up to create, so

that everybody across the country would have a voice, because she also has an extreme position in terms of expanding the supreme court. we need to send people down to washington, d.c. that are supported by republicans and democrats alike, like i was last cycle, finding a common ground in making sure we have improvements that are necessary and make sure that we have the trust to make sure that we make the right decisions on behalf of our constituent. >> sue, would you like 30 seconds to respond? >> no. >> all right. very good. we all agreed we will take a very quick commercial break. stay with us as we continue debate right here in new jersey's race for the seventh congressional district. i reminded candidates they will remain on camera during the break. stay with us.

>> thank you for staying with us i am laura jones. debate night in new jersey. the first and only in the seventh district between tom keene junior a republican or democrat challenger sue altman. now is a time where we will let the candidates ask a question of each other. first, we have tom to sue altman and then sue to tom. each of you have two minutes to respond to this. first, over to you, tom. >> okay. thank you. it is important that we protect our environment. clean air, clean water, clean soil. in fact, i met my wife rhonda a little over 30 years ago when we were both working for the epa. making sure that we have responsible and environmental protections and making sure that we grow the economy.

it is important for future generations of this country. my question for you, sue, you have changed your position on so many issues over the course of the last couple of months during this campaign. do you still support aoc green new deal? >> i sub work components of it. i think it is very important that we transition to a clean economy. a lot of what was in the original green new deal was developed into last big-budget bill develop your congress. i think that we need, i mean, there is not a lot radical about investing in public transportation. about starting to grow our green economy. about keeping our clean air and water safe for future generations. congressman, as you know, project 2025 wants to get rid of the department of environmental protection so that superfunde sites like the one that i grew up near would never get cleaned up.

areas in new jersey, this beautiful part of the state that is just a complete, just an area of beautiful rivers and lakes would be under attack from pollutants. people once said that in new jersey we could never clean up our state because it would hurt the economy. but we have been able to. cleaner air than ever before. cleaner water thanor ever befor. we have protected the watershed and we continue to grow a green economy. i know that we can do it. i believe in us and if it was not for partisan bickering and if it was not for the incompetence and the nastiness, the divisiveness of our current congress, of our current presidential nominee on the republican side, i know we could build a clean economy that works for everyone. there is nothing radical aboutun saving acreage from development. there is nothing radical about building up our flood protections to make sure towns like lambertville or clinton or linden protected. there is nothing radical about

making sure that there is a one seat ride from every town in this district. when you were in state politics you supported chris christie who gutted the ark tunnel. what had been done by now. what have been done more cheaply in all of this time commuters have wasted waiting for trains and late transit trains would've been salvaged. so, congressman, there is nothing radical about a sustainable solution. that does not mean the green new deal. that means stop the bickering of partisanship which hatesed the green new deal as some awful things all in some when you know that they are not. >> sue, now you may ask tom a question. two minutes to a respond. >> congressman, i'm glad we did this. i would've liked to do more so if you want to do more i'm always game. i have, while you were in congress, i'm sorry, while you were in the state senate, you voted against yay marriage, while you are in the state senate, you voted down the

minimum wage bill, you voted to slash the retirement benefits of law enforcement and teachers and just a few weeks ago, the day he was convicted of felonies, you endorsed donald trump. congressman, do you regret any of these things, any of these decisions you made or do you stand by them tonight? oh, and, i forgot one more, you also voted against planned parenthood and you voted against the codification of royal in new jersey. tell me, congressman, of all of these things that i've listed, do you regret any of them? >> i like many people, republicans and democrats alike, when that boat was first cast in 2012, 2013, have changed their marriage equality. i voted in the state senate for it as well. the most important thing we can do is send news down to washington, d.c. we will find a common ground and understand what is important to people's lives.

my opponent has an extreme position. finding the common ground and she will always be on the extreme progressive wing of her own party. the reason the firefighters are supporting me is because i work to find the common ground. the reason the police, every singlend police union has endord me because they understand the dangerous policies that would make the streets less safe if sue altman politics were prosecuted. we also know that the building trades, people working hard to grow this economy and build this economy are supporting me because they know that sue altman is extreme in her policies. i ran for congress to solve problems for the people. i have fought to make sure we lower the overall cost and also make sure because they acknowledge this in four months we will take office and i was one of two republicans and two democrats who found the common

blueprint to keep the government open after only four months in congress. i have done that on many issues. >> focusing on finding a common ground. >> okay. we will go back to our panel and over to joey fox for his next round of questions. joey. >> congressman, you, alone among congressy's members of don't talk to reporters in the halls of the capital. you turn down a request for an interview from me. why is that? >> i respect the press. when we look at this we made sure it reaches thousands of constituents. we go to where they want to meet with us. whether it is senior town halls

or schooll and veteran town hals we have a policy and you know this, joey, from when we were in the legislature and people around the state no we have a policy that when i'm down in washington, d.c., i make sure that i'm on my constituents time making sure i'm finding their solutions. it is important to schedule that type of conversation. as you know, i have spoken to nj tv news, folks -- i've talked to local groups including you. so, my focus is to make sure we have a direct conversation with our constituents in the ways that they are best able. i also have a weekly newsletters as well as tuesday's at the top. >> excuse me, sue and response.

unless joey, you want to follow their. >> no, you go. >> congressmanrs, by this time next week i will have done seven town halls and seven counties and one extra one in jersey's crown jewel our only four year university and you will have done zero in person town halls. every time we do one of these town halls our organizing team goes out and we recruit people who are undecided voters. we have meaningful, deep conversation in these town halls and they are unscripted. people are about to get up and we hand them a microphone and they asked me anything about the issues. they have been incredibly productive. they have brought us closer together as a district. what is so clear is that people are hungry for this conversation do not hold town halls, to dodge the press, to avoid your constituents, that is a dereliction of duty. i understand why you are doing it, because you have a cognitive

dissidents i got to hold in your brain. your donors values, elon musk values, donald trump's values, the extremists in your party, those values do not match the values of our district. you are worried about having to explain yourself. congressman, i am here to tell you that your absence has created a vacuum and we are filling it with leadership. what you have done is disrespectful to the people of this district. >> i will give the congressman 30 seconds to respond. >> the vast majority of people in this district prefer to come to them. whether it is through the telephone town halls, the in-person district meetings in their communities and making sure that we go to work, they are going to go to the schools, going too go to the veterans wil be go to the senior center, are able to have those conversations in person where we can listen and learn. vast majority of people for that type of in-person communication.

>> joey. >> cornerstone of vice president harris campaign is to build 3 million new homes nationwide. as we have seen with development battles in places like westfield and elsewhere in the seventh district, a new development is not always warmly received. do you support the vice president's planet do think that any of those 3 million homes should be built within the borders of the seventh district? >> there is definitely a housing shortage in new jersey. that comes from new york city because new york city has not kept up with its bargain in terms of building housing at all so, all of that extra need floods over into new jersey. we need to fix our transportation system before we continue to add pressure onto it but if we can fix public transportation and we can preserve open space because that is crucial, and i grope in the late '80s and early 90s in new jersey and i watch beloved farms that i'd love get paved

overve become shopping centers. we have to provide space, open space, public transportation, but we can build walkable downtowns. we can build places like clinton and lambertville which are beautiful downtowns. we can make downtowns all over our district accessible to people of all kinds. we can make sure that we have enough housing so that first-time homebuyers can afford to purchase homes and live in our communities. it will make a stronger, it will make us richer as a state and i'm supportive of plans that build housing and smart sustainable ways in communities where itin is wanted. >> tomer. >> i think one of the things that makes new jersey so special to have three generations of people who live near each other. unfortunately, for the seniors, for the parents, as well as the kids, it is unaffordable at every stepin of the spectrum. increase spending, increase cost

that directly cost inflation. everybody is making this getting the groceries, getting gas are actually paying for home goods. the policies that are making this less and less affordable are driven by sue altman allies who are from the extreme left wing in the progressive parties and that she allies herself with i oppose the development that was being put in, a number of other places that did not include transparency and e communities in that fight. we need to make sure that we have affordable housing and we need to make sure that we have the less regulations that are causing driving up the costs. >> so, i will forge ahead in the interest of time so we can get through as many issues as possible. congressman, gun legislation has not been a top priority in this session oftl congress. if that were to ever change in the future congress, what level

of restrictions on firearms would you be comfortable with supporting? >> well, on the state level, i have a record where i supported bump stocks and also making sure they kept guns out of the hands of people who do others harm. we needth to make sure, i do support the second amendment and its provisions, i do support an assault weapon ban, i did that on the state level and need to make sure that we have the policies that keep our school safe, ourco places of worship se and our streets safe. we need those kinds of commonsense proposals and my opponent on the other hand supportso policies like defundig the police. an unsecure southern border. think about what message that sends when she's sense less resources to help people in need in these communities.

we need to make sure that we have policies that protect our communities. >> sue. >> that was an amazing guns to the border so well done for sticking that landing. congressman, you used n to havet f rating from the nra. and then somehow between the years of 2013 and 2017, that f rating went up to a+. in so many ways, this issue to our young people is precisely why they do not trust government precisely why they are frustrated with old parties. because we have not been able to keep our children safe. we must put an assault weapons and into congress. we must have universal background checks. we must have red flag laws. we must do things that keep and give law enforcement the tools that they need to keep our communities safe. while speaker johnson has a gavel, there will be no

legislation in congress to help get bad guns off of our streets. congressman, when you were in trenton, you are no fan and no friend of commonsense gun legislation. i have received the endorsements of multiple commonsense gun organizations such as moms demand and giffords and i will be a champion of protecting our children andil our students when i'm in congress by getting dangerous guns off the streets. >> we are running a little bit over on time. fifteen seconds. >> voting to support joe biden because we needed to make sure that we keep those out of the hands of gangs as well. my opponent has an extreme position and that she wants to defund the police, one select cop killers out of jail, full narcotic legalization. think about how dangerous those policies looking back as crime is increasing dramatically.

day after day in this district. >> we have time for two more questions. mike, do you. >> 10 years ago you voted with most of the rest of the new jersey legislature that moved to cashless bail. has that worked as you hoped it would? >> listen, i think that the intent was good in that regard, but there are new reforms that have to happen. there have to be consequences. right now, too many people are being let out of jail who are repeat offenders. when you talk to a police officer 1, not one provision in that bill tonight that needs to be changed. the second thing, every other issue have been weakened by the murphy administration. when you look at driving down the fact of trying to make sure

that people under 18 committed a violation -- we need to make sure we have the funding for the cops. funding for the justice system. make sure that people who commit crimes face the consequences. >> congressman, i am sorry, i cannot let go of the last answer where you said i wanted to legalize all drugs like heroin and stuff like that. that is a complete fabrication. i don't even know where that came from. elon musk sent out a mailer claiming this, but this is not a thing. it is a complete and utter light and i'm disappointed in you, congressman. repeat theave to lies that your overlords tell you. you don't get a point for every time you use the word extremism. it is disappointing that you resort to lies in this debate because it is unnecessary. when it comes to bail reform i completely agree that are a most egregious multiple time offenders should not be getting

often bail. that is obviously not a good idea. but i never supported anything otherwise. we need to keep our communities safe. we need to fund our law enforcement to keep our communities safe and congressman i would appreciate if you did not plainly tell lies about my position anymore. >> position of the working families party. >> they are not me and that is not my positions. stop, that is not true. >> when they took that position and you did not oppose it. you have changed your position. >> we did not work on it in new jersey when you change was your position on the lease, on israel and a number of other issues only once he became a candidate. that is what people see in you and what we have to focus here is the same person down in congress who will be consistently supporting and getting the bipartisan support that i've had. every single police union has

endorsed. me because they know she will not have their back. >> we have to end up there with our panel because we have ran out of time. trying to cover as many topics as possible. we want to get both of your time for closing arguments. tom, you are first. have 90 seconds on your closing statements. do you. >> thank you. great to be with you again tonight. i want to thank the voters, the panelists for their questions and allowing us to talk about the issues a that are importanto the people in the seventh congressional district. i ran for office so i could help solve problems. i joined the problem solvers. i fought to keep government open i thought to secure the southern border. i stood up to support ukraine and israel and i one. my entire focus has been to make sure that we find those solutions that keep america strong and energy independent once again.

what you have seen tonight from my opponent is an extreme position. a liberal activist since 2019 and she has positions that reflect that. it was only when she chose to run for office as she started to change her positions. that is wrong for this district we need an independent leader like i have been in congress and for that state legislature. making sure that we put new jersey values person that we fight for affordability was doing this all production, we have lower overall taxes, stop the out-of-control inflation that is driven by policies of my opponent. supporting it year in and year out. i'm asking for your vote. i am trying to continue. thank you. i'm asking for your vote. thank you. >> sue, over to you. your closingng statements, 90

seconds. >> congressman, will be a part in the last 90 minutes is nothing compared to what you have not accomplished in the last 23 years in politics. congressman, with your last name , with your family's legacy, with your family's fortune you could have been a leader in congress and you could have been somebody who from the get go stood up. you could have not voted for jim jordan. you could have not voted for mike johnson. you could have not endorsed donald trump. we have a wonderful district. this is one of the most highly educated districts in the entire country. it is a beautiful place full of smart engage people who believe in government. who believe in institutions. who believe in the rule of law and have no time and no energy for the vulgarity and toxicity of another trump election. congressman, you have not stood up to him. you have not stood up to the most extremist elements of your party. you have not stood up to them because to paraphrase, it is

very hard to stand up against someone who is funding your campaign. elon musk campaign. the national republicans under campaign. you contrast with us, we knocked thousandsrs and thousands of dos every day. we are out organizing you. we havee over 30,000 individual donors. our campaign is t a campaign of the people and for the people. when i get to congress, i will not be represented, i will not be accountable to some political party or corporate donors because i don't take ascent and corporate tax money. i will be accountable to the new jersey seven because it is the taxpayers that we work for and it is the taxpayers and citizens of this district that you have ignored for too long. thank you. >> our time is up and that concludes new jersey debate night. after very quick make our panel will be coming back with some closing thoughts. i would like to thank our candidates. thank you for your time and for your responses. even on friday nights watches

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scan the code or visit student camp.org for all the details on how to enter. the deadline is january 20, 2025 democratic representative alyssa slotkin and former republican representative mike rogers participated in the debate to represent michigan in the u.s. senate. the candidates answered questions on economic policies, manufacturing of electric vehicles, international complex and women's reproductive rights. the race is considered a tossup by the nonpartisan cook lyrical report with amy walter. the candidate that wins in november will go on to replace four term democratic senator. the debate was hosted by wxyz tv in detroit. >> debating live from wxyz detroit as they buy for michigan open u.s. senate seat. >> i think this election is about the future. >> one of the most pivotal rises

in thens entire country. on the line is control of the senate and the issues that matter mostt to michiganders. >> healthcare, portability of housing. >> migrants, the economy. >> gasoline prices, immigration and interest rates. >> things like schoole districs and school safety. >> each candidate while 92nd for opening statements, one minute to answer questions with a thirty second rebuttal if desired in 90 seconds for closing statements. airing from the ub to detroit, wxyz live u.s. senate debate starts right now. >> now live from the seven news destroyed studios, this is michigan's u.s. senate debate. >> good evening and welcome to michigan u.s. senate debate hosted by y wxyz. one hour dedicated to getting voters the answers they truly deserve. thank you so much for tuning in. i am carolyn clifford.

>> i am alicia smith. >> i i am channel seven editoril director chuck stokes. candidates, thank you for joining us here at the broadcast house. we appreciated. a few days ago we met with two of your representatives for what you would call a virtual coin toss to determine who would get the opening statement, who would get the closing statement in what order and who would get the very first question. you have the right to open with the first question. mr. rogers, way down at the end of the debate you will have the closing statement and the y last word in the debate. you will also go first when it comes to time for questions. your opening statement, you have 90 seconds. >> great. thank you. thank you to the whole team for being here. i am a third-generation michigander. i represent the seventh district in the u.s. congress right now. my life began in service. really on 9/11.

happen to be in new york city on my secondma day of school. 9/11 happened and i do my life would a change. i got recruited by the cia, did three tours in iraq aside the military and then came home and worked for two democrats. i believe that service should be nonpartisan. i am really at the end of the day running for senate because i believe in my bones that we need a strong and growing middle class. that means jobs with dignity and making sure we attacked the cost center eating a hole in your pocket. i am really glad that we are having this debate. i think it is part of the democratic process to talk about the differences between us and we haveof a lot of differences. differences on the role of the middle class. bringing manufacturing back from china to the united states. the good news is, we both have records. i've been in congress for about five years. mr. rogers was an elected politician for 20 years. we do not have to guess about what we've done or what we will deal because w