YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — At their second and final debate Monday night in Youngstown, Democratic candidate Tim Ryan and Republican candidate JD Vance clashed on topics including abortion, immigration, the opioid crisis, police interactions with the public, gun control, inflation and more.
“I know how much pain people are in at the pump, with food — it’s rough,” Ryan said. “That’s why I’ve been calling for a tax cut in the short term to put money is peoples’ pockets. JD said that that was a gimmick.”
Ryan supports the Inflation Reduction Act. Vance criticized it.
“First of all, we need to stop spending money that we don’t have. The runaway spending is one of the reasons why we have inflation,” Vance said. “The other thing we have to do … is really open up America’s energy sector.”
During the debate, each candidate questioned the other’s character, implying or even outright saying that their opponent is not who he says he is.
Ryan sought to paint Vance as an extremist, criticized Vance’s support of national abortion restrictions, wanting to close the border, and accused him of trying to win favor with former President Donald Trump.
“We are running for the United States Senate,” Ryan said. “This is the highest office you can get in this country except for President, and he’s running around backing these extremists, the most extreme people in the country.”
Vance sought to cast Ryan, a 10-term congressional representative, as a failed leader who’s had his turn and claims to be a moderate, but votes like a liberal. Vance also blamed the fentanyl crisis on Ryan and the Biden administration not securing the border.
“The primary way they’re coming into the country is through Tim Ryan and Joe Biden’s wide open southern border to the tune of about two and a half million people,” Vance said. “And of course, it’s not just the people, it’s the fentanyl, it’s the sex trafficking. It’s all the other things that they’re bringing right along with them.”
The second U.S. Ohio Senate Debate was held in Youngstown at Stambaugh Auditorium. (Spectrum News 1/Taylor Bruck)
On gun control, Vance called for more mental health resources.
Ryan argued mental health issues happen globally, but that the U.S. still has the highest number of school shootings in the world. He said he supports the second amendment but calls for background checks and limits to gun ownership.
When asked about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Ryan called the day an attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
“I do think that the insurrection was a group of people who are trying to overthrow the United States of America,” Ryan said.
Vance said he condemns the violence, but said the media should focus on more important topics affecting people’s everyday lives.
“Four years ago, the obsession with the idea that Donald Trump somehow had the election stolen by the Russians, there’s been a nonstop political effort to not honor the election of 2016,” Vance said. “And I think that’s just as much of a threat to democracy as the violence on Jan. 6.”
“The great replacement theory” was brought up during the debate.
It’s a conspiracy theory that states that non-white individuals are being brought into the United States to “replace” white voters to achieve a political agenda. Ryan accused Vance of peddling this theory, which he calls racially divisive and believes has led to mass shootings, such as one in Buffalo earlier this year.
Vance pushed back and was offended that Ryan accused him of that, noting that he married a South Asian woman and has biracial children.
Both candidates are vying for the undecided voters’ votes. Ryan said he wants to represent the exhausted majority, people who are tired of violence, racism and divisiveness in the country. He said he wants to rebuild the middle class and dominate the industries of the future like electric vehicles.
“We have to come together. You have to find points of agreement here,” Ryan said. “You’re not always going to get your way. And I want to go to the Senate and I’m going to represent Republicans and Democrats and Independents. I’m going to promise that I’m going to find some common sense solutions.”
Vance closed his argument, saying he thinks it’s time to go in a different direction with this country, stating someone can believe in a border without being a racist and wants people to walk down the street and feel safe.
“The reason why we have a wide open border, the reason why we have a terrible crime problem is because Democrat politicians accuse us of being racist for caring about things like law and order and things like a secure border,” Vance said when he spoke to reporters after the debate ended.
Polls in Ohio show a virtual tie. Election Day is Nov. 8.
