Top takeaways from North Carolina Senate debate between Ted Budd and Cheri Beasley

MIDTERMS 2022 LIVE: UPDATES FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL AHEAD OF CRUCIAL ELECTION

Friday’s debate in Raleigh was the first and only time the two leading candidates are scheduled to meet — but it almost didn’t happen. Budd had outright refused to debate his Republican rivals during the primary election and only agreed to debate Beasley last month.

Beasley, the first black woman to serve as chief justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court, focused her campaign on access to abortion and lowering healthcare costs, while Budd, who has represented the state’s 13th Congressional District since 2017, has centered his on crime, inflation, and hammering President Joe Biden’s policies.

During the hourlong debate, the candidates fielded questions on a woman’s right to choose, election integrity, drugs, crime, healthcare, inflation, social security, and immigration.

Here are the top five takeaways from the debate.

INFLATION

Inflation is one of voters’ top concerns across the country. Pain at the pump, an increase in prescription drug costs, and recession fears have created an unsteady economic landscape.

Beasley was asked whether she agreed with President Joe Biden’s stimulus and COVID-relief packages and who she thought should shoulder the blame.

“I believe that the president and Congress could work a whole lot harder to make sure that prices are being lowered,” Beasley said. “Congressman Budd has been there for six years, and so, he’s partly to blame as well.”

She also faulted Budd for voting “against lowering drug prices and gas prices while taking corporate PAC money from oil and drug companies.”

Budd was asked if the economy was a “bipartisan problem,” but he said no. Citing economist Milton Friedman, he said the money President Donald Trump spent in office was needed “to make sure our economy would stay alive but Joe Biden went way too far.”

He added that if Beasley were elected, she would “rubber stamp” all of Biden’s policies. He also faulted Biden for shutting down the Keystone XL Pipeline on his first day in office and claimed 10,000 jobs were lost.

ABORTION

Democratic candidates across the country have been trying to keep the focus on abortion, a key issue they believe could be a powerful motivator as the midterm elections near.

North Carolina currently has a ban in place for most cases after 20 weeks. Budd has signed on to a federal bill that would create a ban in most cases after 15 weeks.

When asked if he’d support any exceptions to a ban, Budd said his “ideal law” would include “protecting the life of the mother.” He added that he wanted to “save as many unborn lives as possible” and criticized Beasley’s “extreme” views on the topic.

He added that Democrats have signed on to the Women’s Health Protection Act, which he described as the “most extreme bill in legislative history.” He also accused his opponent of being “up for abortion at any time, for any reason, all the way up until the moment of birth” and said she wanted to do it at taxpayer expense.

He called Beasley’s views “wildly out of step” with the majority of the state.

Beasley defended herself by saying she supports restrictions on the procedure and wants to codify the framework of Roe v. Wade, adding that to her, the fundamental question on abortion is: “Who makes the decision for a woman and her family? Is it you and your doctor, or is it politicians up in Washington?”

ELECTION INTEGRITY

Beasley, as with Democrats nationally, sought to tie her Republican opponent to Trump during the debate.

Even though Budd said he was “honored to have President Trump’s endorsement,” which he received in June, he acknowledged that Biden won the 2020 election despite his vote in Congress against certifying the election results.

“[Biden] is the president and unfortunately, he is destroying our country,” Budd said. “I don’t like what he is doing, but he is our president.”

Trump, who won North Carolina in 2016 and 2020, continues to promote the unfounded claim that he is the true victor of the 2020 election.

Budd also shied away from saying whether he thought the former president should run in 2024.

Beasley said Budd characterized the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as “patriots standing up,” while Budd accused Beasley of encouraging race riots, an allegation she strongly denied.

CRIME/BORDER

Republican candidates across the country have tried to center their midterm election message on crime, and Budd was no different.

He discussed the dangers of illegal drugs coming over the border and the harm it poses to the public. When asked directly if he favored the Trump wall, he said, “I don’t care what you call it, but I am in support of a wall. It’s not a whole solution, but it’s a large part.”

He later added, “Yes, we need a wall. Yes, we need more border agents, and yes, we need more technology. It’s going to take all of those things.”

Beasley accused Budd of being all talk. “The bottom line is that actions speak louder than words, and congressman Budd has done nothing on this issue,” she said. “We must secure the border.”

Budd, who owns a gun store, accused Beasley of being soft on crime and wanting to defund the police.

“I do not support defunding the police. We must fund the police,” Beasley shot back. Beasley added it’s also important to fund community-based programs to better the relationship between law enforcement and the people they police.

HEALTHCARE

Beasley was asked if she supports “Medicare for all.” She answered that she backs a public option under the Affordable Care Act.

Budd claimed a public option would “destroy” Medicare for seniors. He added that everything former President Barack Obama and Biden have done on healthcare “has made life harder and worse for us here in North Carolina.”

When asked if he would be willing to repeal Obamacare, Budd said, “I’ll look at anything that makes life better in North Carolina.”