Wilson comes out firing at first GOP Senate debate

Heather Wilson came out firing in her first debate with fellow GOP U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce on Tuesday, but Southern New Mexico’s congressman held his own against the tenacious congresswoman from Albuquerque.

At the debate, which was held in the heart of Pearce’s House district in Alamogordo, Wilson went on the offensive during her opening statement, highlighting Pearce’s votes for the base realignment plan that included closing Cannon Air Force base and against funding to increase the number of Border Patrol agents in New Mexico by 500.

“You can’t talk about securing the border if you’re not willing to spend the money to hire the guys to do the job,” Wilson said of Pearce’s Border Patrol vote.

Pearce spent much of the night on the defensive, but his explanations for votes Wilson criticized were usually as effective as her attacks. He said he voted for the base realignment plan that included closing Cannon in part because people in Alamogordo asked him to back the plan, which kept Holloman Air Force Base open. At the time, there was already talk of a new mission for Cannon, and the people of Alamogordo pledged to help push for that, Pearce said.

He said he voted against the increase in Border Patrol funding because the agency spends $180,000 to train each agent, and almost $160,000 of that is unaccounted for in Washington. He said Wilson has joined the other members of New Mexico’s delegation in engaging in wasteful spending, while he has never wavered from his commitment to reducing government waste.

“I have done it time and time again in the New Mexico delegation, standing alone,” Pearce said before the crowd of more than 100 people.

The candidates also sparred over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Wilson, a proponent of the program, supported a bill last year that would have placed greater checks on ensuring undocumented immigrants couldn’t access the program and phased out adult access. However, she said, “extremes in both parties” – Pearce was among those who adamantly opposed the bill – “demagogued this to death” and ended up killing it.

As a result, Congress temporarily extended the existing funding plan that didn’t include the fixes Wilson supported.

Pearce complained that the proposal Wilson supported would have expanded the SCHIP program by tens of billions of dollars and paid for it with a tax increase. He said he is proud to have voted against what he called “Hillary Care Lite – the beginning of socialized health care.”

Wilson pointed out that the tax increase would have been on the purchase of cigarettes, and said she hoped such a tax increase would encourage people to stop smoking. She then questioned whether Pearce, if he would oppose a “safety-net” insurance program like SCHIP, would also oppose Medicaid and Medicare.

In response to a later question about cutting government waste, Pearce said he would make cuts to the Medicaid system, which he said is fraught with waste, fraud and abuse.

Pearce fights back

In response to the attacks, Pearce accused Wilson of oversimplifying his votes so she could accuse him of not supporting the defense of the nation.

“That’s the soft underbelly of American politics that does not have a place in this nation,” Pearce said.

He said, while he voted against the Border Patrol-funding bill Wilson used in her attack, he supported another proposal to increase the number of Border Patrol agents by taking money away from the Transportation Security Administration – an unsuccessful proposal Wilson opposed.

“I don’t stand up and accuse Heather of being soft on the border,” Pearce said. “It’s just a different approach.”

Wilson countered that she could, like Pearce, “find a reason to vote against every bill,” but said the necessity of securing the border outweighed some of the waste problems with the Border Patrol.

“You’ve got to look at the greater good, Steve,” she said.

Wilson launched another attack later in the debate related to funding for the Department of Energy. Before voting last year against a proposal to cut funding for the state’s national laboratories, Pearce voted for an amendment that would have cut $1.8 billion from the Department of Energy budget beyond the proposed lab cuts.

The lab cuts were supported by U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, the third candidate in the Senate race, and Wilson implied that Pearce’s action was even more extreme than that of the Democratic congressman from Northern New Mexico.

Pearce defended the vote, saying he could cut 1 percent from the DOE budget “and never touch the labs.” Wilson pointed out that $1.8 billion is 8 percent of the DOE budget, and said such a cut would cost thousands of Americans their jobs. She said she favors careful examination of programs to find areas where cuts are practical, but opposes blanket cuts that are irresponsible.

Closing statements

Wilson launched one last assault during her closing statement, again highlighting Pearce’s votes against funding an increase in Border Patrol agents and to “mothball Cannon Air Force Base” and cut the Department of Energy budget.

“You can’t talk the talk if you’re not willing to walk the walk,” Wilson said.

Pearce devoted most of his closing statement to responding to the attacks.

“Heather talks about that BRAC vote – the one that was going to mothball Cannon – as if I was opposed to Cannon. That’s just not true. Our office was one of the ones that jumped in and said we’ll find a mission for Cannon,” Pearce said. “When we talk about these votes in simplistic fashion that I’m against Cannon, it’s a disservice to the politics, it’s a disservice to us as public leaders to try to simply a vote and cast it like that.”

And he launched an attack at Wilson, who had called herself a “commonsense conservative” throughout the evening, highlighting the differences in their votes on abortion and related issues.

“You know, I’ve listened to the words ‘commonsense conservative’ and I do not understand the commonsense version of voting for cloning,” Pearce said. “I do not understand the commonsense version of voting for stem cell research on embryos when we can do the same thing with adult stem cells, and I do not understand how a person can say that they’re pro-life and have a 42 percent rating. I really can’t. I’ve got a 100-percent rating on the pro-life issue.”

I was unable to find the 42-percent rating Pearce spoke about. Click here to see Wilson’s ratings on abortion issues from a number of special-interest groups. Click here for Pearce’s ratings.

In the end, the debate was a draw. Most I spoke with after it ended were impressed with the performances of both candidates.

Here’s video of Pearce’s opening and closing statements: