i support marriage equality and voted for it, state senate, as well. the most important thing we can do is send leaders down to washington, d.c. who can actually find the common ground and understand what is important in people's lives. my opponent has an extreme position. she is not a person who will work across the aisle to find common ground and will always be on the extreme progressive wing of her own party. the reason firefighters are supporting me is i can work to find the common ground. the reason every police union in this race has en endorsed me because they understand the dangerous policies that would make streets less safe if sue altman's policies 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 sue altman is extreme in her policies. i ran for congress to solve

problems for the people. i've joined the problem solvers caucus and fought to lower overall cost and make sure -- four months since taking office, 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've done that on many issues and on domestic and foreign policy -- we need people who will focus on finding common ground. laura: we're going back to our panel over to joey fox for his next round of questions. joey? joey: congressman, you alone among new jersey's members of congress don't talk to reporters in the halls of the capitol and you turned down a request for an intri from me on your positions and beliefs. why is that? rep. kean: i respect the press.

when we look -- had seven town halls, we've reached thousands of constituents. we go to where the constituents want to meet with us, whether the senior town halls or citizens, a school and veteran town halls. but i also have a policy and you know this, joey, from when we were in the legislature, and people around the state know that i've got a policy that when i'm down in washington, d.c., i make sure that i'm on my constituents' time and making sure i'm finding their solutions, that it's important to schedule that type of conversation. as you know, i have been -- right now i've spoken to the "star ledger," n.j. tv and news, i've spoken to the "bergen record" and 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 to -- i also have weekly newsletters swols tuesdays with tom. as well as tuesdays with tom -- ms. altman: congressman, by this time next week, i will have done seven town halls in seven counties and an extra one at new jersey's crown jewel college 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 recreate people who are undecided and we have meaningful deep conversations in these town halls and they're unscripted. people can ask me anything about the issues. and they have been incredibly productive. they've brought us closer together as a district and

what's so clear is that people are hungry for this conversation, to not hold town halls and to dodge the press, to avoid your constituents is a dereliction of duty. i understand why you do it, because you have cognitive dissonance you have to hold in your brain. your donor's values, elon musk's values, donald trump's values, the extreme panelist in your party, those values -- don't match the values in our district. your absence has created a vacuum and we're filling it with leadership and what you've done is disrespectful to the people of this district. laura: i'll give the congressman 30 seconds to respond. rep. kean: the vast majority of the people in this district have preferred that i come to them whether it's through television town halls or in-person meetings in their communities and making sure we go to work, they are

going to the schools, when we go to the veterans, when we go to senior centers, when we're able to have conversations in person where we can listen and learn. vast majority of people in this district for that type of outreach, in-person communication. joey: ms. altman, a cornerstone of vice president harris' campaign is to build three million new homes nationwide but as we've seen with development ballots in the seventh district, new development isn't always warmly received. do you support the v.i.p.'s -- vice president's plan and do you think any of those homes should be built within the seventh district? ms. altman: there is say housing shortage and part of that comes from new york city because new york city has not kept up with the bargain of building housing and that extra needs floods into new jersey. we need to fix our

transportation system before we continue to add pressure on to it but if we can fix public transportation and preserve open space because that's crucial. i grew up in the late 1980's and early 9 90's in new jersey and watched beautiful beloved farms paved over to become shopping centers. we need to provide open space and public transportation but we can build walkable down the -- downtowns and build downtowns and make them accessible to people of all kinds and make sure we have enough housing so that first-time home buyers can afford to purchase homes and live in our communities. it will make us stronger and richer in our state and i'm supportive of plans that build housing in sustainable ways in communities where it's wanted. laura: tom kean? rep. kean: i think that one of the things that makes new jersey so special is you have three generations of people who live

near each other and unfortunately for the seniors, for the parents, as well as for the kids, it's unaffordable at every step of the spectrum and that's in part because of increased spending and increased costs that have caused inflation. everyone is making tough choices between getting groceries, getting gas or paying for home goods and the policies making this less and less affordable are driven by sue altman's allies from the extreme left wing in progressive parties and that she allies herself with. i oppose that development put into a number of places that didn't include transparency and didn't include communities in that fight. we need to make sure we have affordable housing but we need less regulations that drive up

costs. joey: i'm going to forge ahead in the interest of time. congressman, gun control has really been or any gun legislation has not been a top priority in this session of congress. if that were to change in a future congress, what level of restrictions on firearms would you be comfortable supporting? rep. kean: on the state level, i've got a record where i supported bump stocks and also making sure to keep guns out of hands of the people who do others harm. i do support the second amendment and its provisions, i support an assault weapon ban on the state level and federal level and make sure that we have the policies that keep our schools safe, our places of worship safe and our streets safe. so we need those kinds of

common-sense proposals and my opponent on the other hand supports policies like defunding the police and unsecure southern border. think about what that means when she spends less resources to help people in these communities. we need to make sure we have the policies to protect our communities. laura: sue altman? ms. altman: that was an amazing ballerina pipette from guns to the border. well done sticking that landing. congressman, you used to have an f rating from the n.r.a. and somehow between the years of 2013 and 2017 that f rating went up to a-plus. in so many ways this issue to our young people is precisely why they don't trust government, is precisely why they're frustratingerated with both parties, because we have not been able to keep our children safe.

we must put an assault weapons ban into congress, we must have universal background checks and red flag laws to give law enforcement the schools they need to keep our communities safe. while speaker johnson has the gavel, there will be no legislation in congress to help get bad guns off of our streets and congressman, when you were in trenton, you were no fan and no friend of common-sense gun legislation. i have received the endorsements of multiple common-sense gun organizations such as moms demand and gifford and i will be a champion of protecting our children and students when i'm in congress by getting dangerous guns off the street. laura: we're running a little bit over on time. tom kean, 15 seconds. rep. kean: i voted to support joe biden on the pistol braces in the country because we need to to make sure we keep those out of the hands of gangs.

my opponent has an extreme position in that she wants to defund the policy, wants full narcotics legalization. think of how dangerous those policies would impact families as crime is increasingly dramatically day after day in this district. laura: to micah rasmussen, time for two more questions. micah: mr. kean, 10 years ago you voted with most of the rest of the new jersey legislature to move to cashless bail. has that worked as you hoped it would? rep. kean: i think that the intent was good in that regard but there are new reforms that have to happen. there have to be consequences associated -- right now too many people are let out of jail who are repeat offenders and when you talk to police officers, there are not just one provision in that bill that needs to be changed a bit. the second thing is also, every

other issue that has kept streets safe have been weakened by the murphy administration so when you look at driving down the fact that -- we do know that try to make sure people under 18, if they've committed a violation, their parents need to know. we have to make sure we have funding for the cops, funding for the justice system and make sure that we -- that people who commit crimes should face the consequences. laura: sue altman? ms. altman: i'm sorry, i can't let go the last answer where you said i wanted to legalize all drugs like heroin and fentanyl. that is a complete fabrication. i don't know where that came from, i know elon musk sent out a mailer claiming this but this is not a thing. it's a complete and utter lie and i'm disappointed in you, congressman. you don't have to repeat the lies that your overlords tell

you, you don't get a point every time you use the word "extremism." it's disappointing that you resort to lies in this debate. i agree that our most egregious offenders should not get off in bail. i've 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 didn't blatantly tell lies about my record or my positions anymore. laura: tom kean, 15 seconds to respond. rep. kean: that was the position of the working families party a couple of years ago when you worked for them. ms. altman: that is not my position. that's not true. rep. kean: they took that position and you didn't oppose it. you have changed your position. ms. altman: you didn't work on it in new jersey. rep. kean: what you changed was your position on police, on

israel and a number of other issues only once you became a candidate. that's what people see in you and what we have to focus here is sending a person down to congress which can be consistent in his support and get the bipartisan support that i have had. every police union has en endorsed me because they know she will not have their back. laura: we have to end it there with our panel because we've run out of time. we want to give both of you time for closing statements if our candidates. tom kean, you have 90 seconds on your closing statement. to you. rep. kean: thank you. it's great to be with you again tonight. i want to thank the voters, the panel panelist for the questions and -- a lot of us talked about the issues important to the people of the seventh congressional district. i ran for office to help solve problems. i joined the problem solvers club, fought to keep government open, fought to secure the

southern border, i've had the backs of cops. i stood up to support ukraine and israel and taiwan. my entire focus has been to make sure we find solutions that keep america strong and energy independent once again. when -- what you have seen tonight from my opponent is an extreme position. she was a professional political activist since 2019 and she has positions that reflect that. it was only when she chose to run for office that she started to change positions. that is wrong for this district. we need an independent leader like i have been in the congress and before that, the state legislature, to make sure we put new jersey values first, we fight for affordability, restoring the salt deduction, making sure we have low overall taxes, stop the out-of-control inflation driven by policies my opponent has supported year in

and year out. i'm asking for your vote for a second term because i'm trying to continue to find common ground to reflect your values. thank you. i'm asking for your vote. thank you. laura: sue altman, your closing statements, 90 seconds. ms. altman: congressman, what we've heard in the last 90 minutes is nothing compared to what you haven't 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. you could have been someone who stood up to trumpism, you have not voted for jim jordan, not voted for mike johnson and not endorsed donald trump. we have a wonderful district. this is one of the most highly educated districts in the country. it's a beautiful place full of smart, engaged people who believe in government, who believe in institutional --

institutions, who believe in the rule of law and have no time for the toxicity of another trump election. but you haven't stood up to him or the extremist elements of your party because to paraphrase utman sinclair, it is very hard to stand up against someone who's funding your campaign. elon musk funds your campaign. the national republicans fund your campaign. in contrast with us, we knock thousands and thousands of doors every day, we are out-organizing you. we have over 30,000 individual donors. our campaign is a campaign of the people and for the people and when i get to congress, i'm not going to be represented -- i'm not going to be accountable to a political party or corporate donors because i don't take corporate pacc money, i will be accountable to the keep of new jersey seven because it is the taxpayers who we work for and it is the taxpayers and citizens of this district that

you've ignored. thank you. laura: after a quick break, our panel will come back with closing thoughts but i'd like to thank tom kean and sue altman for your time and responses. announcer: friday night, watch a discussion on how the campaigns progress each week. two reporters join us to talk about the issues and events driving the news and look at the week ahead friday nights at 7:00 p.m. eastern. or download the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. sunday night on c-span's "q&a," whole foods co-founder john

mackey and harvard university psychology professor discuss their books. john mackey's book talks about the rise of the whole foods grocery chain and his development. >> lsd was the first psychedelic i did first time when i was 19 or 20 and that took me off the conventional path that everybody else was moving down the assembly line because i realized that the universe is so much bigger, more complex, more awesomely magnificent than i'd realized. announcer: and professor steven pinker shares his book that looks at the role rationality plays in a functioning society and the growth of irrationality in the united states. >> the mindset when it comes to the question of the future, the origin of things, we should look to science and respective experts. that's alien to the brain.

announcer: john mackey and steven pinker sunday night. you can listen to "q&a" and all of our podcasts on our view c-span app. >> the house will be in order. >> this year c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979, we have been your primary source for capitol hill providing balanced, unfiltered coverage of government, taking you to where the policies are debated and decided with the support of america's cable companies. >> early voting has started in many states across the country and we're asking you if you would vote to re-elect your member of congress. want to show you this from "the

washington post." congress may be headed for an election day double-flip ble flih less than four weeks to go, republicans appear poised to win the senate which is currently controlled by the democrats. democrats seem to have a slight edge in the race for the republican-controlled house. if the polls and predictions prove right, and that is still a big if, it would be the first such flip in a political era marked by slim outcomes and deep divisions. -- could lead to gridlock as a new president is set to govern next year. congress faces crucial deadlines to fund the government and a -- avoid defaulting in the next couple of weeks.

in the final weeks, both parties are trying hard to break through undecided and independent voters. in many swing districts and states, that means moderating messaging on key issues like abortion and immigration and trying to paint opponents out as extreme. looking at the current breakdowns and where those races stand, according to the cook political report, they are showing the ratings. you can see the 27 seats right here in gray. those are tossup seats, meaning they can go in either direction. there are a handful of them. you can see them here, listed here. and also, a couple in the senate, they are showing three tossup races, including michigan, ohio and wisconsin. and yesterday, last night, in wisconsin, there was a senate debate featuring the current

incumbent senator, tammy baldwin and republican challenger, eric. here is a portion of their debate, talking about abortion. >> i think we as a state should resolve this issue with a referendum where everybody gets a right to vote. the voters get a right to vote, i get a right to vote. i clarify my position, and that is i believe women should have a right to choose early on their pregnancy but there comes a point in time when a baby can be born alive and healthy. >> eric, that does not happen in america. it is clear that he has never read roe v. wade. i'm pushing to have that be the law of the land. your rights and freedom should not depend on your zip code or the state in which you live. what he just said doesn't happen

in america. what me tell you what is. there are health care providers facing the threat of prosecution. there are states with six-week bands. -- bans. >> thank you, senator. your time is up. host: this first hour of washington journal, we are asking you will you vote to reelect your member of congress? we hear first from william in ohio on the independent line. good morning, william. caller: good morning. i just think that -- i'm going to revote for romney. he is a great guy. as for congress, i'm not sure what i'm going to do. trump is going to destroy this country. host: what district are you in? who is your current member? caller: i don't remember, even.

i just know -- ohio is gerrymandered so bad right now. we are voting to do away with the gerrymandering. that's the main thing i'm voting for. the gerrymandering in ohio. host: carol in brookhaven, new york on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: yes, i will not vote for the republican if -- what was i saying -- if they have an attorney that has been disbarred because of this unbelievable behavior to run for office. we have an assemblyman in the three village area of long island. the fourth district. anyone who has been disbarred as of the 25th of last month, and they are going to let him run as

assemblyman. if anyone allows or condones a disbarred attorney to run for office, that should be resolved. host: carol, for your members of congress, do you have a preference for who you are going to vote for for the house seat? caller: i will vote for anyone who votes against an assemblyman who has been disbarred from the fourth district. host: do you know which candidate that is? caller: i know both candidates. but unfortunately, i'm not going to say. i'm only going to say one thing. anybody who condones a person that has been removed from, disbarred, 100% disbarred from the assembly, i will not vote for anyone who votes for

disbarred or stands behind a disbarred attorney. host: caroline in ohio for the line for democrats. caller: i already voted. i voted on the first day of early voting. and there were some glitches but it got taken care of. i voted for sherry brown. i was like the other caller, i believe in him. i think he will do a fantastic job. i can't believe how many -- i don't think i've gotten any, anything in my mailbox from sherrod brown. i have gotten, i would guess that i have gotten 20 postcard type of mailings for bernie moreno. i've already voted.

it was sherrod brown all the way. good luck to him. host: when you voted, did you vote for the incumbent? caller: you know what? i can't even remember. i checked my ballot because it was -- it took a long time for them to get things straightened out. i checked how i voted and i know i voted democrat all the way. i don't remember who is in ohio. who is in the house? i'm not thinking this morning. i'm having a senior moment. i am a senior citizen. host: ronald in north carolina on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i was calling, i want to let everyone know that i will never

vote for the democratic party, the way they are doing our country. they are guarding the house and passing laws to turn little girls into boys and boys into girls. they are going to try to turn men into women in the prisons. something is wrong with this country. the house is sick. we can't vote for the democratic party. and kamala harris. if we do, our country is headed straight to you nowhere. host: is your congressional district currently a seat held by a democrat? caller: i'm in north carolina, i'm not sure about that now. host: rob in port crane, new york, on the line for independence. -- independents. caller: my representative is running against another lawyer. i don't think i can vote for either one of them because he keeps giving money to

ukraine and israel and not a nickel for our border. at the same time, i will never vote for another democrat. they are the one who -- ones who left this country's border wide open. i can't vote for a democrat. host: rob, did you vote for representative molinaro last time around? caller: we voted for claudia tenney and then new york state redistricted and we went from the 22nd district to the 19th. and they installed this mall a narrow character -- molinaro character. he doesn't talk about the important things. i have no one to vote for.