MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Congressional hopefuls Shomari Figures and Caroleene Dobson clashed in a contentious debate Thursday, exchanging verbal jabs over each other’s background and sparring over abortion, immigration and the economy.
Figures, a Democrat, and Dobson, a Republican, are running to represent Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District. The open seat has drawn a heated November contest after it was reshaped following a lengthy redistricting battle. The two exchanged jabs as they attempted to portray the other as out of touch with Alabama voters and questioned their opponent’s ability to tackle the issues facing the district. The debate was sponsored by AARP Alabama and hosted by Al.com.
Here are some key takeaways from the debate.
Dobson repeatedly called Figures a “Washington insider.” Figures served as deputy chief of staff and counselor to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and also as an an aide in the Obama administration.
“My opponent argues that that he should be elected because he understands how Washington works. Well, the truth is, Washington hasn’t been working for Alabama families,” Dobson said.
Figures responded that he was born and raised in Alabama, but he has the experience to “leverage Washington for the benefit of the people of this district.”
Figures in turn tried to portray Dobson, who is a real estate attorney for a large firm, as someone who is out of touch with the struggles of working families. He said Dobson “was born wealthy, raised wealthy and married even more wealth.”
Both candidates accused the other of being the political status quo and said they represented an opportunity for change.
Dobson said Figures, who also served on the Biden-Harris transition team, wants to “continue the policies of the last four years.”
“He was part of an administration that has hurt Alabama families,” Dobson said.
Figures said the “status quo here in the state of Alabama has been Republican leadership” before noting the state lags the nation in rankings for education, income and life expectancy.
“As much as my opponent wants to just blame everything on the nearest Democrat she can find, the realities of it are the state of Alabama has been under Republican leadership at almost every single level for the last two decades,” Figures said.
Both discussed the need for immigration reform but laid the blame on the opposing political party for a lack of progress.
Figures said some Republicans would rather run on the issue of immigration instead of addressing it. He said policy has to prioritize protecting the border but cannot be rooted in “fearmongering.” He invoked the personal, telling the story of his wife’s parents who immigrated from Haiti.
“They immigrated here from Haiti, and they didn’t come to this country and eat dogs and cats,” Figures said in reference to debunked claims, amplified by former President Donald Trump and others, that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating pets.
“What they came and ate was public service, Ivy League degrees, education and positive contributions to America,” Figures said.
Dobson said Figures was part of an administration that has “flung open our southern border.”
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“There is no question that our border crisis — and it is a national crisis — is negatively impacting Alabama families,” Dobson said.
Dobson said she would not have voted for a bipartisan Senate deal to tighten border security and boost the processing system for immigrants and asylum seekers because she had concerns it did not go far enough.
The debate continued to highlight their stark differences over legalized abortion. Thirteen states, including Alabama, ban abortion at any stage of pregnancy while another four ban abortion at about six weeks of pregnancy.
“I don’t believe it’s the government’s role to tell a woman what she should and should not do with her own body,” Figures said.
Dobson said she is “pro-life,” but she added the issue is best left for the states to address with “compassion, common sense and consensus.”
“We don’t need to federalize this issue,” Dobson said.
Dobson said she supports exceptions in abortion bans for pregnancies arising from rape and incest and when needed to save the life of the pregnant woman. Alabama’s abortion ban does not have exceptions for rape and incest.
Much like in the presidential debate, both candidates tried to address the fact that most Americans remain unhappy with the economy.
Dobson said “reckless spending” from the Biden administration was making the price of goods “rise and rise.” Dobson also said that the Biden administration’s energy policies -- and specifically his policy on oil drilling on federal lands -- have made prices higher for average consumers.
Figures said that economic “struggle is not new for people” in cities across the district and said that Republican elected officials at the state level in Alabama were to blame.
Figures also defended the Biden administration’s economic record, and blamed “supply chain shortages, worker shortages and job losses” coming out of the COVID pandemic. He said that recent jobs report and the stock market indicate that the Biden administration’s policies are working.
Both candidates spoke of the need to address the closure of rural hospitals. But they differed on the importance of Medicaid expansion.
Alabama is one of 10 states that did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Figures urged Alabama to expand its Medicaid program to cover more low-income people. He said he would support legislation that would renew financial incentives to holdout states to expand their programs.
Dobson said she would encourage state officials to “examine” the issue of Medicaid expansion but said that is an issue of state funding. She said creating more “economic opportunities in these communities” is needed.