In Maryland the most closely watched congressional race is in the First District, which includes the entire Eastern Shore along with parts of Anne Arundel, Harford and Baltimore Counties. Republican Wayne Gilchrest had represented the district since 1990, but he was defeated in the Republican primary by State Senator Andy Harris.
On Tuesday, Harris squared off against his chief opponent, Democrat Frank Kratovil, who is the State’s Attorney for Queen Anne’s County. It was their final debate before Election Day; Libertarian candidate Richard Davis also participated in the debate at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills.
The candidates talked about issues including the financial meltdown. ‘My opponent still believes, despite what we have seen, that we need less regulation and not more,’ Kratovil said. Harris responded by saying, ‘We don’t need more regulation in general. We need smarter regulations.’
On health care reform, Harris, a physician, said, ‘Mr. Kratovil believes that we should expand government-run health insurance as the solution for the uninsured. I couldn’t disagree more strongly.’ Kratovil cited the Massachusetts universal health insurance program, instituted when Republican Mitt Romney was governor there, as a model. ‘Everyone has a right to affordable and quality health care, and principal number one is we need to recognize that moving forward,’ he said.
The candidates differ sharply on what should be done going forward in Iraq. ‘The reason why we can’t get out of Iraq is the philosophy that my opponent holds; it was a mistake to go into Iraq,’ Kratovil said. ‘We need to find a responsible way to get out of Iraq.’
Harris said, ‘The 435 members of Congress are not the people who should be conducting the war. General Petraeus should be.’
The First District’s location has made the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay a key issue in the race. ‘The bottom line is I have been endorsed by every major environmental group,’ Kratovil said. ‘My opponent has not.’
Harris countered by saying the federal government’s responsibility should be to regulate pollutants entering the bay from states other than Maryland. ‘The bay is no better off now than it was 20 years ago. And that’s because we haven’t taken a multi-state regional approach to the Chesapeake Bay,’ he said.
But the biggest fireworks of the debate came over a television ad run by the Harris campaign, which claims that Kratovil told a Salisbury newspaper that the financial crisis ‘had been solved.’ The newspaper now says Kratovil was misquoted, but the ad continues to run. ‘You’re the only one who still says I said it,’ Kratovil said, speaking directly to Harris. ‘And you just recently sent a mailing out saying I said it. Can you tell the folks why?’
Harris responded by saying, ‘I got a copy of that audio-tape and we will post it on our web site if anyone wants to listen. The quote is accurate.’
