Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa faced off against Democratic challenger Jim Reed at a League of Women Voters forum in Chico Wednesday night.
The wide ranging co-appearance broached myriad topics of both national and local importance, from terrorism and taxes to women’s health care and water policy.
While the two men had much to disagree on — neither broadly veered from their party’s priorities — there was one point of agreement. Both said they would oppose the proposed Delta water tunnels.
But, from defense policy and border security, to farm subsidies and food stamps to fracking, neither strayed far from well-established party positions.
Disagreements about the seriousness of global warming between the two illustrate a typical contrast. The first speaker is Congressman LaMalfa:
“Climate change, I don’t think the debate is settled because, they try and point to, oh, 97 percent of scientists say this,” LaMalfa said. “Whose scientists? Really? It’s probably about a third agree, a third disagree and a third are trying to get answers, so, the debate is not settled.”
Reed said: “I would certainly dispute that. I think the science is very clear, 98 percent of the scientists have no doubt and the 2 percent who don’t are paid for, are paid by petroleum companies.”
The subject of women’s health also elicited a sharp divide. A question noting the region’s less prosperous nature asked the candidates to weigh in on a perennial issue in the nation’s so-called culture wars — family planning.
“Planned Parenthood is primarily an abortion provider and also has been known to be the seller of baby parts,” LaMalfa said. “We’ve seen that. We’ve seen those videos. We’ve seen that they are caught red-handed doing that. So yes, I will continue to vote to de-fund them.”
LaMalfa said the non-profit health care provider commits atrocities, drawing this response from Reed,
“Planned Parenthood commits no atrocities. There’s just this big lie and you hear it over and over again,” Reed said.
This isn’t the first time the two have faced each other in an election. LaMalfa defeated Reed for the same office in 2012. The results in the solidly Republican 1st district likely won’t be much different this time around. According to the most recent campaign finance reports available, LaMalfa has outraised Reed by a factor of nearly 10 to one.
Democrats last held the seat prior to the 1974 election.
