PETERSTOWN (WVDN) – The Union Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a “Meet the Candidates Forum” Monday night at the Market Street & Company building in Monroe County. Among those participating in the event were District 10 Senatorial candidates Harry “Lee” Forbes, Vince Deeds, and incumbent Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin. Independent candidate Aaron Ransom was not present at the forum. Deeds, the Republican candidate, was first to deliver his opening remarks.
“I believe in strong, Godly faith in our families and our service,” Deeds began. “We have a unique opportunity in West Virginia.”
“Our economy has been doing extremely well,” Deeds continued. “There’s a $1.3 billion surplus, and we have to decide, in the next couple of years, how to best put some of that money back into taxpayer’s pockets and give it back to the public. So, there’s some big decisions that are going to be made in the next couple of years.”
“Whereas I am a Republican candidate, I believe I give a strong, effective voice to everyone who votes for Deeds for West Virginia Senate,” Deeds added.
After retiring from the W.Va. State Police, Deeds began working for both the Greenbrier County Prosecutor’s Office, as well as Greenbrier County Schools. Deeds also serves as Pastor of Sinks Grove Baptist Church.
Baldwin, the Democratic incumbent, was next to speak, saying, “I’ve served in the State Senate for the past five years. I served in the House of Delegates for one-year, and I served on the Board of Education in Greenbrier County for four years prior to that.”
“I’ve done my best to look out for the communities that I represent,” Baldwin continued. “I’ve got a good working relationship with the officials and commission here in Monroe County. I think that’s what it takes – people who are willing to work together and find solutions, and not get bogged down in all the craziness.”
“This last fiscal year, we had over a $1.3 billion budget surplus,” Baldwin noted, before adding that an additional $400 million has been added to the surplus “in the last couple of months.”
“Thus far, none of that has come back to the people,” Baldwin added. “Charleston is sitting on all that money. And if this isn’t a rainy day when people need the help, then I don’t know when a rainy day is.”
In addition to his service in the West Virginia State Legislature, Baldwin is a minister at Ronceverte Presbyterian Church.
Forbes, a conservative Independent who serves as a minister – as well as owner-operator of two Greenbrier Valley-based businesses – was the final senatorial candidate to offer his opening statement.
“I agree with [Deeds and Baldwin]; I think we have a lot of similar things in mind,” Forbes began. “But my concern is that where we are is in a state of decline.”
“As a businessman I look at things a little bit differently,” Forbes continued. “I’m concerned about what I see in the world around us. We’re in a state of war. We have an attack that has been leveled upon us which has grown worse and worse – through the pandemic and everything that has been happening since then. Many of us have lost loved ones – either to the disease itself, or to the treatment. There are a lot of issues that need to be taken into consideration.”
“When we have legislation being considered in Charleston, people need to know about it,” Forbes added. “We need to know about it before votes are cast. We need to be able to hold our representatives accountable for what they are considering, and what their decisions are. That’s one of the big ones for me.”
After the opening-statement portion of the forum was concluded, each candidate was asked the same three questions:
- How do you define democracy?
- Do you believe that the 2020 election was legitimate?
- Does the criminalization of doctors and nurses make sense to you?
Deeds was the first to respond, saying, “Democracy is everyone having a voice in the United States. It’s so important that democracy is carried on from generation to generation. This country was founded on democracy. The good, Christian principles that our Founding Fathers developed this country upon. It is everyone being able to stand strong and saying ‘my voice counts, and my vote matters.’”
Baldwin provided a slightly different definition, saying, “Democracy is the work of the people. And the work of the people has to be representative. The work of the people has to take place within the bounds of law and order, and the work of the people has to be participatory. And this is the part that I think we’re really missing in the United States right now. It’s not the work of the people – it’s become the work of the few. We have a democracy where people are on the polar opposite ends – you’re with me or you’re against me, and that’s the end of the story. That’s not democracy. Democracy is working together.”
Forbes’ understanding of democracy differed from both Deeds and Baldwin.
“Democracy is mob rule,” Forbes said. “That’s why we are not a democracy – we are a constitutional republic. We are ruled by laws established in our Constitution. These laws were not given to us by people – they were given to us by God. In our government, we are all represented equally. At least we’re supposed to be.”
In response to the second question, Deeds said, “I’m a Constitutionalist. As long as it (the 2020 election) went in line with the Constitution, which ultimately it did, as far as being a legitimate election, I have to default to the Constitution – I’d have to say yes, it is a legitimate election.”
Also responding to the second question, Baldwin said, “The same one (the 2020 election) where my party took huge losses in the legislature – yes. It was a legitimate election. Our Secretary of State here, Mac Warner, said it was the most secure election that we’ve ever had in West Virginia.”
Forbes once again offered a differing opinion, saying, “Nationally, it was not a fair and honest election. You can see where it has been documented that the national election was very clearly fraudulent.”
The third question – “Does the criminalization of doctors and nurses make sense to you?” – also elicited varying responses from the candidates.
“No, it doesn’t,” Deeds said. “My wife is a nurse, so this is a close issue. If (a doctor or nurse) goes out and intentionally commits a crime – keep in mind, I’m a law-and-order guy – then of course. I believe that laws are written, and we have to abide by them.”
Baldwin also began his answer with a resounding “no,” saying, “We live in one of the states with the lowest life expectancy in the nation. You can’t criminalize someone for doing their job when they’re just trying to help somebody live longer.”
Forbes responded by saying: “I was a hospital-based paramedic for a number of years. As such, I saw a lot of things going on. To generalize and say that doctors and nurses should be penalized – absolutely not.”
The final question – What specifically do you plan to do to fund county schools, fire departments, ambulance services and libraries if Amendment 2 passes? – was again answered first by Deeds.
“Just because Amendment 2 is passed, that doesn’t mean there’s an automatic trigger that will reduce anyone’s taxes, or affect any of those issues,” Deeds said. “What I am for is putting tax money back in your pocket. Ultimately if Amendment 2 passes nothing really happens until the Legislature gets ahold of it next spring, and who knows where that’s going to go.”
Baldwin had much stronger feelings on the proposed amendment, saying, “(If Amendment 2 passes) I’ll fight like heck. Let’s get real, why are you going to pass a law to let me take your lunch money if I’m not going to take your lunch money? The reason they (proponents of Amendment 2) want this passed is because they want the money. They’ve said they’re going to do it – they’ve told us they’re going to do it. I represent 15 County Commissioners – 14 Republicans, one Democrat. I do not know a single county commissioner who supports this.”
“I’d hound every representative up there (Charleston) to come up with an alternate way to fund these things. I don’t like taxes any more than anybody else. But in business, there’s always another way to fund whatever it is you want to fund. You just have to be creative and figure it out. We need these services. I agree with what Senator Baldwin said – if you start dipping into the money, that money vaporizes. We want to be able to continually build our surplus so that when we do have a disaster, we can support the people of our state and get them back on our feet. But in the meantime, we’re going to be taking the money. As he (Baldwin) said, if they tell you they’re going to do it, you can bet they’re going to do it. But we need to hold their feet to the fire. There has to be an alternative if we’re going to take away the taxes.”
Election day in West Virginia is Tuesday, Nov. 8. Anyone who is uncertain of their registration status or voting location – as redistricting has caused numerous changes – should contact their county clerk.
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