NY-01 Democratic primary: Candidates face off in online debate hosted by League of Women Voters

First Congressional District candidates John Avlon and Nancy Goroff faced off Monday evening in a debate hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and North Fork. Moderated by Judi Roth of the League of Women Voters, who posed questions that came from residents’ submissions.

Notably, the candidates refrained from attacking each other during the hour-long discussion, saving most of their arrows for Republican incumbent Rep. Nick LaLota, who each candidate is hoping to win the chance to unseat in November. 

Also notable, though predictable, was the lack of daylight between the two candidates on positions ranging from reproductive rights for women to ballot access, immigration reform and the goal of flipping NY-01 back to Democrats. Republicans have not held the seat for nearly a decade, when Lee Zeldin upset incumbent Rep. Tim Bishop in 2014. The candidates each  claimed they stand the best chance of defeating the freshman incumbent LaLota and furthering their party’s goal of regaining control of the House of Representatives. They both stressed in strong terms their opposition to former President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, which they both argued is a threat to American democracy and the future of the republic.

MORE COVERAGE: Local Democrats will decide US House, town justice candidates in June 25 primary. Early voting begins Saturday

Opening statements

“I just believe there’s so much at stake for our country and for our community. We’re in a dangerous place. We’re on a knife’s edge,” Avlon said in his opening statement Monday night. 

“We live in the greatest country in the world. I’m the grandson of immigrants and they taught me that you cannot take the blessings of American democracy for granted,” he said. “American democracy is under threat. I think we can all see that.” Avlon said that’s why it’s “vitally important” for Democrats to take back the house in this year’s election. He advocated for building what he called “a broad patriotic coalition” to win victory and said he has an “enormous sense of optimism” about winning in November.

Goroff, in her opening, cited the rise of “right-wing MAGA extremists” in local school board elections as a “wake-up call” to the dangers of political extremism in the United States both nationally and locally. 

“And so, I am running to make sure that we protect our democracy and women’s reproductive freedom, that we deal with the affordability crisis that is affecting so many people here, especially on housing, and that we make sure we are protecting our communities, whether from gun violence or from the effects of extreme weather and climate change,” she said. 

On compromising and working across the aisle in Congress: 

Avlon:  “American democracy was founded on constructive, principled compromise. That’s the story of the Constitution. We’re imperfect people working to form a more perfect union. I absolutely believe that you need to work with people of good faith around common facts to find common ground and then to find common-sense solutions…That’s the only way we’re going to solve any.” He cited immigration reform as an area where compromise is needed and the bipartisan infrastructure bill as an example where compromise was successful. “And I know our country only works when we find ways to find common ground and elevate the debate and work towards common–sense solutions.”

Goroff: “I believe that to find real solutions to complex problems, you need to listen to all stakeholders no matter what side of an issue they see themselves.” She said LaLota showed himself willing to go along with Trump when the former President objected to passage of border security legislation that had bipartisan support until Trump objected. “Nick Lhota went right along with Donald Trump, and said it was a terrible deal, even before he knew what was in it. We need partners who are really serious about solving these problems. Nick LaLota is not one of those people. He is more interested in political stunts than in actually solving problems,” she said, a phrase she would return to during the debate.

On childcare opportunities and the child tax credit:

Goroff: “The child tax credit is one of the most successful policies that we’ve had in recent years…When it was expanded because of the pandemic, we cut the child poverty level in half. That’s just an incredible accomplishment. Now, Republicans have refused to maintain those expanded levels. And when we need to bring those backs so many working families depend on this.” She said Congress should bring back the child tax credit and look at ways for the government to help expand childcare options and help expand funding for those services because it is critically important for working people to have affordable childcare. “Our economy depends on being able to work.”

Avlon: “We need to look at it through the prism of ‘does it strengthen the middle class?’ Does it make it easier to raise a family? Does it help more people? And if Democrats focus on that — and Joe Biden has been focused on that for a long time—we’ll start to regain trust and faith. And I think that’s one of the ways we win, not just flip the seat, but then hold on to it. It’s critically important that working families and middle class families feel the Democrats have their back.”

On access to abortion and contraceptives:

Avlon: “This is an issue that could not be more urgent. And actually, the first political belief I remember having that was based in policy was being pro- choice. It just always seemed to be wrong, and anyone thought they can make that decision for anybody else. And I believe the vast majority of Americans believe that it’s a decision that should be between a woman, her doctor and her God —not the government. We saw that the Supreme Court justices lied to the American people in the Senate, they said it was stare decisis. Then they overturned [Roe] the first chance they got now we’ve opened Pandora’s Box. IVF bans, returns to laws from 1864, constant debates about making contraception illegal. So Democrats need to get elected to Congress in order to defend reproductive freedom. And we really can’t forget that Republicans have a national abortion ban on their to-do list. This is urgent, this is basic, this is something that should unite us. And remember, you know, as Nancy Pelosi once said, you don’t need to be a woman to vote right on women’s rights. And that’s what I believe.”

Goroff: “​​I am lucky enough to be the mother of two adult children and have gone through two healthy pregnancies with no problems. But as a woman, I just can’t even imagine the idea of somebody else, and especially some men in Washington, whether in Congress or in the Supreme Court, having the ability to say what would happen with my body I have been a very long-time staunch advocate for reproductive freedom and women’s bodily autonomy, and very proud that last year, I was given the local Planned Parenthood Planned Parenthood of Hudson-Peconic Impact Award for my work defending reproductive freedom. We do need to worry about possibilities of a national ban, of restrictions on contraception, about restrictions on medical abortion, and we need to worry about that not only for people in New York where it is still a threat, but also elsewhere in the country, and I will make sure to defend those.”

On supporting military veterans:

Goroff: Our armed service veterans and active members deserve to have their commitment to our country met with similar commitment from our country. To me, that means making sure that our VA hospitals and VA homes for retired veterans are doing what they should be doing and are meeting the needs of the people here who have served in the armed services. So the VA hospital in Northport absolutely needs oversight. There have been issues especially with women …having access to female doctors for their care. And we need to make sure that they are getting the care they need.”  One of the responsibilities of a member of Congress is making sure that every constituent gets access to the parts of the government they need, she said.

Avlon: “It’s very clear that our military men and women are heroes, that freedom isn’t free, that they have earned our eternal respect and we should celebrate their achievements and then make sure that when they get home, they don’t feel forgotten. As you know, the suicide rate among military veterans is much higher than the national average. That’s speaking to a deeper pain that’s not being addressed…We need to make sure that the services are being delivered in places like the Northport VA that everyone has access… We need to make sure the system is working efficiently, effectively, that the care is first rate, because that’s part of honoring our military men and women, and we need to make sure that they feel honored and set a societal example that says we honor people that sacrifice for something larger than themselves and we owe them our thanks.”

On providing federal assistance for small local farmers:

Avlon: “Small businesses need to know that we’ve got their back… large agriculture bureaucracies take over everything and it does disrupt our culture. We want family farms. We need the open spaces.. Frankly, it’s another reason we need to have comprehensive immigration reform. Because those H2A and H2B visas, farmers depend on for temporary workers…So we need those temporary worker visas to help our local farmers. Too often small family businesses …feel like the system works for the big guys and not for them. And that’s something we can do and we need to do because the unique character of our communities can’t be taken for granted.”

Goroff: “The pandemic showed us …the danger of consolidating so much of our agriculture into very few producers…And we saw the risks to our supply chain of having this consolidation, in addition to the importance of small family farms or the character of our communities. And, of course, our East End is filled with small farms, which we all have enjoyed for many years. Congress every five years passes the farm bill and the next farm bill is due for renewal next year…We need to make sure that in the next farm bill, we are not subsidizing Big Ag  —the Monsantos of the world, the Archer Daniel Midlands of the world  — and we are instead making sure that small farmers get their share of government help when they need it. We need to make sure they have the workers to do their work and attend their crops. And that means looking for ways to have enough temporary workers to help them where needed is with seasonal work. The government has a responsibility not only to the small farmers but also to all of us as consumers that they are going to strengthen and diversify our food chain. It is better for the environment. It is better for our farmers. And it is better for us and our health.”

On dealing with the problems caused by climate change:

Goroff: “This is an issue that I have cared deeply about and worked on for decades. I’m proud to be a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists and their national advisory board. … In order to combat climate change, we need to take ambitious, sustained, committed effort. That means that we need to move to being carbon neutral in our energy production in this country by 2035. We need to be carbon neutral overall, including the vehicles and buildings and roads and concrete as soon after that as we can but definitely by 2050. The Inflation Reduction Act includes many terrific proposals to move us towards the infrastructure we need for this action.”

Avlon: “The fact that we’ve got 1,000 miles of coastline means that everyone on Long Island is impacted by climate change. We all understand that in Suffolk County, the environment is the economy. The economy is the environment… It’s no longer plausible to be in denial. We see flooding in Port Jeff and so many of our communities. We’re going to need to invest in mitigation. There are things we can do in the federal government to coordinate local efforts, sustain beach renourishment efforts… That is incredibly important, because sand is better than revetments and walls in many cases. We need to make sure …that it’s tax deductible for individuals and businesses, as well as communities …to make their properties more resilient…. I think Long Island can take a real leadership position in clean, green technologies. If you look at the intersection between Brookhaven National Labs and Stony Brook, that’s a place where next generation technologies and new businesses can and will be created. …We have the tools here. And if we can make sure that we’re an engine of innovation that innovates our way out of this problem, it will help make Long Island leader and New York a leader.

On federal regulation of social media and AI:

Avlon: “Yes… I ran a digital news media business for many years. And so I have an understanding of how algorithms work about how disinformation can be proliferated. My segment on CNN for many years was called Reality Check where I …confronted disinformation and analyzed how it infects our civic debates and distorts them and makes us feel more divided than we really are. So it’s urgent. This is one of the key challenges to American democracy.” Avlon advocates for “algorithm reform bills” that would “create more transparency” and make companies “responsible for the impact of their algorithms when they promote extremism in the name of increased engagement.”   Avlon said the U.S. should “insist on American ownership” for  the social media platform Tik Tok, which he said is responsible for disinformation and disaffection rising among young people. “It reminds me of something a Ukrainian journalist once told me that the goal of Russian disinformation isn’t to convince,  it’s to confuse to increase cynicism. We wouldn’t have let the Soviet Union control a major newspaper chain during the Cold War. And so I think it’s appropriate to insist on American ownership for Tik Tok because the vast majority of people under 35 get their news from Tik Tok.”

Goroff:  “When we have a platform like Tik Tok or formerly Twitter now X, or Facebook, we need to make sure that those platforms are providing viewers and readers with the information they claim to be providing.  And so we absolutely do need to make sure that there are guardrails in place. I have been very proud to be a founding member of an organization called the Institute for Digital Media and Child Development…We provide reliable information based on research, both for parents and policymakers about the effects of social media on children. And it is clear whether you are talking about toddlers or adolescents or anything in between, and probably for many of us as adults, for that matter, social media and access to screens have very serious impacts on children’s self-esteem, on their understanding of where they fit in overall. And so we must be looking at how we make sure that the information there is regulated to be accurate or honest, or at least transparent where it comes from. I do believe in free speech. We also need to make sure our platforms are not misleading people.”

On legislation to deal with the problem of gun violence in the U.S.:

Goroff: “We are very fortunate here in New York to have some of the strongest gun safety legislation in the country. And for that reason, we also have one of the lowest incidents of gun violence in the country. We need to make sure that similar legislation is applicable to the whole country to keep people safe. That means making sure we re-establish the assault weapons ban, because when we had an assault weapons ban, gun violence was much, much lower than it is now. And as soon as we got rid of the assault weapons ban, it came back to former levels. We need to make sure we have universal background checks. And we close the loopholes for private sales and we make sure we close the loopholes for waiting periods for those background checks to be completed. Some of that has been done in recent legislation that Republicans are now challenging. We need to protect our children and our communities from this cycle of violence by establishing very strong national gun safety legislation.”

Avlon: “As a journalist, I can’t tell you how many mass shooting,  how many times we had to confront the cycle of grief, how many times we would read all the mass shootings that never even make the news. America has a problem. And it’s not about state laws. Some states have better laws than others, but we have porous borders in between the states when it comes to illegal guns. Congress can and should do more. President Biden’s right to be pushing for a renewal of the assault weapons ban, but we need to deal with ghost guns. We need to close the gun show loophole with violent history background checks. That’s something the vast majority of Americans agree on. We need to work with law enforcement to get illegal guns off our streets. …We need to restore common sense and turn our common grief into common sense action.  

On the war in Ukraine: Should the U.S. be doing more or less to support Ukraine?

Avlon: “More, because history teaches us that the way to stop bullies is with strength, that it is far less expensive to stop an aggressor, an autocratic army from invading a democracy at its source, rather than when the war widens. I believe Joe Biden’s been right about this from the beginning. The defining struggle of our time is autocracies versus democracy. Unfortunately, it’s at home and abroad…We need to be forming leagues of democracy to stand up to our autocratic challenges, we need to make sure that we are repelling anytime autocrats try to invade the sovereignty of another nation… Make no mistake about the trajectory of the 21st century. Donald Trump’s told us and this is what we can say to our Republican friends, not only is he not going to deter Russian aggression, he’s saying that Vladimir Putin can have Ukraine — half of it at least. He’s saying that he’ll work to undermine NATO and that of course gives a green light to China with Taiwan. All these things are connected, we need to take a strong line and support democracies against tyrants. We need to take a strong line and to support our allies and democracies against terrorists. That’s part of what it means to be a leader and a force for good in the world. …We need to stand with Ukraine against Putin’s expansionist ambitions and the fact that the Republicans let the Ukrainian people dangle for six months while playing politics to Donald Trump’s tune is a disgrace of the eyes of history.”

Goroff: We owe it to our allies to continue to provide the support they need and to leave in the international arena. We also owe it to ourselves we get tremendous strength and benefit by being leaders and providing funding to Ukraine is one of the most cost effective ways we can do this. If we do not provide funding and support to Ukraine to allow them to push back against this autocratic expansionist attack. We are going to have to face Russia as soon as they are done with Ukraine when they start to move across the border to Poland, or to whichever country they decide to attack next, which is in we have seen it in history and we know how important it is to show that we are standing with [Ukraine]. And so it’s beyond ironic that Republicans like Nicola LaLota have been willing to leave Ukraine dangling for months and months, while making up reasons why they didn’t want to take up proper funding, instead of providing the support that we needed, and it was both understandable and very disturbing that last week, President Biden had to apologize to the President of Ukraine for having left them for so long. We absolutely need to make sure they have the support they need so that they can fight this fight. Because they’re fighting it for us and for all democracies.

On the war in the Middle East:

Israel has been consistently criticized for its response to the deadly Hamas attacks on October 7. Where do you stand on U.S. support for Israel and on the just recently passed U.N. resolution supporting the U.S. proposal for peace.

Goroff: As a Jewish American, this is an issue that has been very important to me for many years, and I do believe firmly 100% in Israel’s right to exist, and right to defend itself. …We must move forward towards a real regional comprehensive security agreement. This is the only way that we’re going to have lasting peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. We need our Arab allies to help whether that’s Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, they all need to provide funding to provide logistical support so that we can have a demilitarized Palestinian state, side by side with Israel. It’s the only way we are going to ever get through this and actually get to a solution.”

Avlon: “We need to stand with our allies. We need to stand with our democracies. We need to stand with the victims of terrorism and never blame the victims of terrorism. … I was outraged to see, in the wake of the horrific attacks of October 7, so many people trying to find ways to blame Israel for the suffering that was just inflicted on it. …Obviously we need to make sure that humanitarian aid gets in. We do need to move ultimately towards a two-party state with a demilitarized Palestinian state…The people of Gaza are being held hostage in part [because of] Hamas action… I think we need broad bipartisan support for the State of Israel. I think Bibi Netanyahu has heard that for too long. For too long, people have said that you need to be supporting  We need to stand with our allies. We need to stand with our democracies we need to stand with the victims of terrorism and never blame the victims of terrorism. People have said that you need to be supporting Netanyahu’s policies or you don’t support Israel. That’s nonsense. But we need to keep our eye on the stakes here and not get dragged into moral equivalence. And I believe deeply that …We have a unique and special responsibility to stand up to anti-semitism, to stand up for the State of Israel, to make sure there is broad, broad bipartisan support for Israel. And that’s what I’ll do in Congress.”

On the rise of anti semitism since the Gaza attack and Israel’s response and the university protests, free speech, protected speech. Could Congress be doing anything about this?

Avlon: “I think that sometimes the debates we get in seem clouded and confused and can be clarified by taking a step back and by applying values rather than trying to gauge the politics of the moment. I think standing up for liberal values means standing up against illiberalism wherever we see it… We need to have free speech and protests. Peaceful protests are protected by the Constitution, but when they get violent, they’re no longer a peaceful protest. That’s all part of what muddies our conversation. So let’s stand up for liberal values consistently. It’ll be clarifying. Take a step back and think about how things will be seen in the rearview mirror of history, apply the lessons of history… study the roots of anti-semitism as one of the seeds of extremism that we deal with today. It’s unacceptable. It’s an ancient virus of hate. And we need to confront it and condemn it wherever we see it.”

Goroff: “I was a university professor for over 20 years, and I really appreciate the importance of a university community where free speech and open dialogue, with mutual respect, is fostered. It’s part of what we try to teach students at a university. We have seen many different protests across many different campuses in this country, some of them have been completely peaceful. Some of them have had people from outside campus coming in to join protests. And sometimes they have moved towards rhetoric that can be called, honestly, anti semitism and hate speech. And we need to be careful because that is not part of a respectful dialogue, and it can be extremely hurtful. At the same time, we’ve seen other campuses where peaceful protests were interrupted by violent counter-protests and counter-protesters were allowed to attack protesters with impunity. So I think it is very important that we not paint a broad brush of what is happening in one place relative to another. And we make sure that we’re not using the bully pulpit of Congress to try to stir up this debate.”

On voter fraud affecting elections: WIll voter fraud be a recurring problem in 2024?  What would you propose to voters in the future that would assure that we don’t have these kinds of problems?

Goroff: “I think it’s very important that we make the distinction between accusations of voter fraud and actual voter fraud. I’m sure you at the league of women voters know that. There are very, very limited — almost nonexistent — numbers of cases of actual voter fraud. However, we have seen that on the Republican side, there have been concerted efforts to call into question the legitimacy of our elections, starting, of course, with Donald Trump, and not starting even in 2020. But in 2016, he started to talk about how if he lost the election, it would be because of fraud. So this is cynical, it is dangerous, and it has severely harmed our democracy. I think what we need to do is hold them to account for the lies and the misinformation that they are spreading. Here in New York, we are fortunate that we have boards of elections that are completely bipartisan— one of which used to be headed by our incumbent Nick LaLota. And so surprisingly enough, he has not accused himself of Inappropriate voter fraud and behavior. But he has not been a loud voice for talking about how we can believe the results of our elections and we have no guarantee that he will be such a voice when he loses in November, and when Donald Trump loses in November. We need to be holding them all to account for their lies and misrepresentations, so that we can again give people faith in our democracy.”

Avlon: “This is bedrock: belief in American democracy, that the person with the most votes wins, that we come together after a great fight to try to solve problems together. And that’s the threat, the unique threat we’re facing right now. We’ve never faced a major party nominee. I’m running on an autocratic platform, praising dictators, who’s using a lie about an election, not only to try to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in our history, but now is using that lie as a litmus test for party loyalty. People like Nick LaLota can’t wait to endorse him. They can’t wait to fall in line. And it’s some combination of cowardice and careerism that leads them to do it, to accept a lie. And we need to reject that because it’s a critical threat to the credibility of our democracy and it’s intended to be that. That’s why we do need to prosecute people who tried to overturn our elections. The election denialism … those people need to be held to account because you know why? If folks who try to overturn an election aren’t held to account, it’s just practice. They’re going to try it again. And we already see that threat, spiraling out. So we need to build that broad coalition, broad patriotic coalition to defend our democracy right now, to respect the integrity of our election. And folks who have endorsed Donald Trump and haven’t clearly condemned his lies are complicit in an effort to undermine our democracy. But we need to restore faith. We need to strengthen American democracy, we need to strengthen the guardrails around our democracy. We need legislation to do it. We need to understand that this is actually a cause that can ultimately unite us because this is our country, and the fact that faith has been broken in a democracy is a civic sin and we need to repair that and move forward together.”

What are the issues that most concern the people of CD-1 and how will you keep yourself apprised of the wishes and needs of the people in the district?

Avlon: “I believe part of the role of a member of Congress is to listen constantly. You know one of the many reasons that I think Nick Lalota will be a one-term Congressman is because he’s unusually weak. It’s not just that he doesn’t live in the district — and he’s the only member of Congress that I’m aware of who’s represented by another member of Congress. It’s that he’s never held an in-person town hall. That’s …a core part of the job. Take questions directly from folks, listen, learn. That’s part of the job. Do your job. And the hyper-partisan nature of our politics is making people fail at the basic part of the job. Listen, learn, bring people together. Represent your conscience and common sense but also people’s concerns. 

“I think the number one thing we can and need to do is deal with the affordability crisis. It’s rightfully frustrating folks. The middle class has been squeezed for decades, and Democrats need to show we can do something about it. After all that talk by Nick LaLota and others about how we’re going to fight to restore the state and local tax deduction, guess what they’ve done? You know why? Because probably the Republicans did it out of spite as part of a political stunt and they’re too invested in the Red State-Blue State divide to ever restore state and local tax deductions. But if Democrats are elected and Hakeem Jeffries is speaker, we can and will restore the state and local tax deduction and that’s an average $10,000 back in working families’ pockets. We can expand the Child Tax Credit. These are concrete things we can do to restore faith to begin rebuilding the middle class by delivering on the concerns that affect people.  And  over and over we see from Nick LaLota and the Republicans, they’re obsessed with fighting among themselves and with Democrats. We need to get to work fixing things. That’s how we restore faith on the other side of this Trumpist virus, that we can make democracy work for working families again.”

Goroff: “The issues that I hear about from voters over and over again, are,  first, democracy and reproductive freedom. People are scared because they see the extremists trying to take away women’s rights across this country. And they know that the Republican Study Committee that Nick LaLota is part of has proposed a national ban on abortion and has proposed a life begins at conception bill and so they are worried. 

“We also hear their concerns about affordability. It is so expensive. To live here. People are worried that their kids are not going to be able to afford to stay here or that they will not be able to afford to retire here. Part of fixing that is making sure that we restore a full deduction on state and local taxes. Because if you’re living in Brookhaven, you don’t need to have a very big house in order to have a $10,000 tax bill. 

“We also hear a lot of concerns about people with safety in their communities, whether that’s about gun violence. Or it’s about making sure that communities are protected against extreme weather and threats to our clean water. These are all issues that I am dedicated and committed to fighting as we have already discussed. 

“As a member of Congress, it is vital that we not only have town halls, which Nick LaLota has not, but also that we have open office hours. His office hours are a state secret. You have no idea unless you are part of his inner circle, when you could find him, or people from his staff, and any elected member of Congress has a duty to listen to their constituents. This is part of our absolute responsibility to our constituents and one that I look forward to offer.

Closing statements

Goroff: “I want to thank you and John for this really helpful dialogue. I think we covered so many issues and people will have a great idea of where we stand. And I want to thank the viewers for caring enough to give us an hour of your time so that we can spend it with you introducing some of our positions on some of the issues. We are working hard here to flip this seat. And I am tremendously proud of the team that we have that started from the work that I did with the Long Island Strong Schools Alliance. I’m thrilled at the response we’ve gotten from voters who see my track record of accomplishment for the people in this district, and how much of a contrast that makes with Nick LaLota, who just wants to talk and do political stunts and hasn’t actually accomplished anything for the people here. So we are excited and we’re working hard and I would love to have people’s support. Thank you so much.”

Avlon: “This is no ordinary time. This is no ordinary election. And we have a unique opportunity to win, to take out Nick LaLota, to flip the seat from red to blue. But it means building a broad coalition, firing up Democrats, reaching out to independents to defend our democracy. And that’s why I’m so honored that the endorsements we’ve gotten just last week and it was announced we have the support of 1199 and the New Democratic Coalition, support from Tom Suozzi and Steve Israel, six out of eight Democratic town committees, assemblymen like Fred Thiele and Steve Stern, three members of the county legislature. They all know that we have to win. Democrats can’t afford to lose this fight. This is an opportunity to flip a seat to make Hakeem Jeffries speaker. Each one of us has an opportunity to play a constructive role in this election, by making sure that we’re part of the path to victory, that Democrats are controlling the House, that we defend democracy and then build a new kind of politics. That’s why I’m running for Congress. Those are the stakes of this primary and this election. So please, I’d be honored to have your vote, join our cause, join our campaign, and together, let’s win.

Roth: Okay, thank you both for taking part in this debate. I hope it was very informative for the public. The league would like to thank Sea-TV for producing the debate, which can be seen in its entirety on Sea-TV’s  YouTube channel. 

The election takes place on June 25. Early voting starts on June 15, and extends until June 23. Please check with your board of elections as to the location and the time of day that the early voting will take place. And most importantly, to everyone: Your vote counts particularly in a local election. That is a congressional election but it’s local and in local elections they’re sometimes won or lost by a minimum amount of votes. And I’m sure neither of these candidates wants that to happen. 

So on behalf of the League of Women Voters and Eileen Mercer and Ann Marshall and myself, we wish you good luck on June 25. Thank you.