Wisconsin U.S. Senate race: High drama as Tammy Baldwin, Leah Vukmir clash over numerous issues in first debate
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican challenger Leah Vukmir clashed on health care, immigration, the #MeToo movement and abortion during a dramatic debate Monday night that illuminated their stark differences over policy.
But it was during an exchange over the scandal at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where opioids were overprescribed to veterans, that the debate grew most heated.
Vukmir accused Baldwin of turning "her back on the veterans of the Tomah VA" and sitting on an inspector general's report about problems at the facility.
She thrust a copy of an ethics complaint filed by one of Baldwin's Senate staffers, who was fired in the wake of the scandal.
"I have to say that I think that Leah Vukmir should be ashamed of herself for using a Marine veteran's death for her own political gain," Baldwin charged, adding that the ethics complaint was dismissed.
Baldwin worked with the family of Jason Simcakoski, the veteran who died at Tomah, to push for reforms in the VA. Simcakoski's parents and widow support her campaign
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After a year of campaigning, the first debate turned into a spirited display at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where at times the audience had to be reminded to remain quiet.
On abortion, Baldwin said, "I support a woman's right to choose. I don't believe that government should interfere with a woman's health or whether or when she should have a child. I also believe that my opponent has been at the very extreme of this issue."
Vukmir, a registered nurse and state senator from Brookfield, charged that it was Baldwin who was on the extreme end of the issue because of her support for late-term abortions.
"Extreme is voting for a partial-birth abortion," Vukmir said. "It is the most disgusting thing that can happen."
Asked about the #MeToo movement, Baldwin said, "We need to speak our truths, we need to tell our stories and we need to be heard." She said she believed Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of assault while the two were in high school. Kavanaugh has denied the accusations.
Vukmir said the #MeToo movement was important but that it "was hurt by the proceedings of the last few weeks." She said she believed something did happen to Ford "but there was nothing to corroborate that and link that to Judge Kavanaugh."
On health care, Vukmir said Baldwin's support for a "Medicare-for-all" proposal would cost more than $32 trillion and means "she wants to completely turn our health care over to the government."
Vukmir also fired back at Baldwin for claiming that Vukmir wanted to get rid of protections for those with pre-existing medical conditions.
"I would fall in front of a truck before i would let people ... go without coverage for pre-existing conditions," she said.
Baldwin said Vukmir would be a vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and with that, would end insurance for those with pre-existing medical conditions. She said she wants "to get to a place where all Americans have access to affordable quality coverage."
The candidates also scrapped over Vukmir's 2014 vote in the Legislature against a measure to help curb costs for cancer patients taking oral chemotherapy.
"This is a lie perpetuated by Senator Baldwin," Vukmir said. "This is a scare tactic to save her job."
Baldwin responded: "A vote is a vote. And Leah Vukmir voted with insurance companies to prevent oral chemo from being covered. I don't know how you can run away from the vote."
On immigration, Vukmir said before so-called dreamers could get a pathway to citizenship, the border wall with Mexico would have to be built.
Baldwin suggested that "we use the smartest border security possible. Many people say that's not a wall, but rather smart technology. The president seems to want a wall."
In her closing statement, Baldwin said she was on the side of Wisconsinites while Vukmir "favors the big corporations, the insurance companies."
Vukmir said she understands the day-to-day challenges of people while Baldwin is "far more comfortable with her friends in The Hamptons than she is at a Friday Night fish fry in Wisconsin."
The next U.S. Senate debate will be Saturday night in Wausau and broadcast statewide. The third debate is set for Oct. 19 at Marquette University Law School.
Also Monday, Baldwin's campaign said it raised more than $6 million in the third quarter and had more than $5 million cash on hand at the beginning of October.
The campaign said it received an average $19 online donation and had 140,000 individual contributions in the period from July through September. Since 2013, Baldwin has raised more than $28 million.
Vukmir has not yet announced third-quarter fundraising. At the end of July, she had raised $2 million since entering the race last year.