Candidates for Pennsylvania’s 158th legislative district, Susan Rzucidlo (D) and Eric Roe (R), faced each other in the last of three pre-election debates organized by The League of Women Voters of Chester County at West Goshen Township’s building on Nov. 3.
Residents of 158th District gathered to participate in pre-election debate between Democratic Susan Rzucidlo and Republican Eric Roe on Nov. 3. (Photo by Pavlina Cerna)
The event, attended by approximately 90 people, addressed questions from the audience and was moderated by Carol Kuniholm, a member of the board ot The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania.
According to Kuniholm, the question “asked the most in many different ways” regarded the candidates’ support for their party’s presidential nominee in the upcoming election.
“I am voting for Hillary Clinton,” Rzucidlo answered. “After I watched Trump making fun of the mother of passed soldier, I cannot vote for that man.”
Roe said he is disappointed with the presidential nominees as he believes are many others, but did not directly answer the question.
“Wasn’t it awesome to register to vote online this year?” Rzucidlo asked. “I was so excited!”
Candidates repeatedly warned the audience about the negative campaign fliers sent to residences of the 158th district. One of the fliers attacked Roe being too young and inexperienced for politics at the age of 28.
“Don’t let someone like Rzucidlo reduce you to your age,” said Roe, addressing the audience. “Your future is your own!”
The debate started with questions about education. Rzucidlo said Pennsylvania spends more money on prisons than colleges and promised to change it, if elected. Roe promised to invest more money in public schools.
The candidates were next asked about their opinion regarding abortion. While Roe answered that he is pro-life but would make an exception in case of rape or incest, Rzucidlo stated she is pro-choice and believes abortion is not the government’s business.
“Abortion has been around as long as pregnancy,” she said. “Banning it will not stop it from happening.”
Both candidates agreed on question regarding opioids, saying that the county needs to provide proper treatments and people leaving rehabilitation need continuous help.
“We have to make sure we are not overprescribing opioids and children need to be aware that opioids can kill you,” Roe said.
The candidates shared the same opinion on the upcoming question regarding gay marriage and expressed agreement with the ruling of the Supreme Court that legalized same-sex marriage.
When asked about the right to bear arms, Roe said he fully supports the Second Amendment and would like to have that right once he starts a family. Rzucidlo opposed his opinion, saying that there need to be strict background checks both made and enforced.
The problematics of minimal sentencing was brought up as a reaction to the previous question about the Second Amendment. According to Rzucidlo, judges need to have a greater freedom to make decisions, while Roe expressed support for mandatory minimum and stricter sentencing.
“If you are willing to strangle somebody, you are ready to take a step further,” Roe said.
Both candidates were given two minutes for their final statements at the end of the event. Rzucidlo mentioned she has never wanted to be a part of politics but she decided to run for the office “after seeing fraud in politics and seeing other people let it happen.”
Roe spoke about his various work for the community and his platform.
After the debate ended, people stayed additional few minutes to share their thoughts and to shake hands with the legislative candidates.
“These meetings are missing diversity,” said Juan Garcia Lopez, a student of West Chester University majoring in chemical engineering, and a resident of West Chester, Pa, who was the only Hispanic attending the event. “I want to see more students, Latinos and Black people at these meetings. If the only people attending are from middle-aged white rich class, the community is not equally represented.”