Vern Buchanan, Margaret Good lob new attacks in heated debate in race for Congress
Candidates running to represent Florida’s 16th Congressional District went head to head in a fiery debate Friday afternoon.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, and state Rep. Margaret Good, D-Sarasota, went back and forth on policy proposals, voting records and promises to represent the district’s constituents in a debate hosted by Manatee Educational Television. Both candidates are running to represent Manatee County and parts of Sarasota and Hillsborough counties in the U.S. House of Representatives.
COVID-19, the environment and the economy were central themes in Friday’s debate, giving Buchanan and Good the chance to lay out their differences before voters. While both candidates pitch themselves as bipartisan, they took shots at one another for toeing the party line and not doing enough for district constituents.
“I think the difference here could not be more clear. Mr. Buchanan’s really good at getting things for himself. He got a tax cut while the rest of us waited and wondered if we were going to get an extra couple hundred of bucks,” said Good.
“She doesn’t want to talk about the issues. She talks a good game, but it’s 22-0,” Buchanan said, referring to the number of bills he has passed since he was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006. “She has no track record and has done nothing for the community.”
Buchanan leaned on his record of accomplishment in Washington and argued that Good wouldn’t be able to make connections on the other side of the aisle, repeating his campaign’s claim that his opponent will join the “radical left.”
“She can say, ‘Well, I’m not a part of that group.’ Yes she is, because that’s the way it works up there. It’s a team effort,” Buchanan said, claiming that Good would support the Medicare for All proposal. “She’s part of a group that basically is very progressive. They’re going to do everything they can to get (Vice President Joe) Biden out front, but just behind them is Bernie Sanders and everybody else.”
“I don’t appreciate Mr. Buchanan putting words into my mouth,” Good responded, nothing that she would rather build on the Affordable Care Act. “I have stood up to my party and I have stood up to Republicans to make sure that the people that I serve get what they need.”
Good went on the offensive, too, calling out Buchanan for accepting up to $7 million in Paycheck Protection Program relief funds and voting against the HEROES Act that would have extended federal unemployment benefits.
“Unfortunately, our current representative has turned his back,” Good said. “He voted to allow insurance companies to drop people with pre-existing conditions — and COVID is a pre-existing condition. He voted against paid sick leave for healthcare workers. This is not the kind of representation we deserve. We need real leadership moving forward that understands the hardship that’s going on in this community and will take real action.”
Buchanan blamed Washington’s COVID-19 response on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who has not been able to reach a deal with Republicans. That decision has been a political one, he said.
“It’s pretty clear to me Pelosi doesn’t want a deal. There’s no question she could get a deal if she wanted to get it done. Politically, she doesn’t think it’s in the best interest of her party to get it done,” said Buchanan, who pointed the finger at Good for not improving Florida’s unemployment system during her time in the Florida Legislature.
“In terms of unemployment, you’re in charge the last three years. I agree with you. We had one of the worst systems, in terms of Florida, in the country. That’s your job — not my job — to fix that. We had the worst in the country and you did nothing to fix it,” Buchanan shot at his opponent.
Good said her office has been dedicated to assisting Floridians who need help navigating the unemployment system, and if elected, vowed to continue providing relief funds for families struggling with the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think about those small business owners who called me and asked if they need to switch banks or fill out a different form. I think about the people who have cried to me on the phone or called me because they needed to get into the hospital, but they couldn’t get in to see their dying husband,” Good explained. “He is in it for himself, and I am for the people of this district, and that is the district.”
According to Good, a joint town hall that she hosted with state Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, in 2018 and the bill they worked on together to increase water quality regulations are proof that she can reach across the aisle.
“I think we need to hold our polluters accountable so that we don’t have to spend millions and millions of dollars on the back end,” Good explained, accusing Buchanan of voting to gut environmental protections. “He’s been there for 14 years and yet he has not taken any of that initiative to make sure we’ve got good water quality from the get-go.”
“Without water quality, we’ve got a disaster on multiple fronts with business, housing and everything else. It’s a big issue. There’s probably no one who’s done more on that issue than I have,” Buchanan said, pointing to approved bills that secured funds for red tide research and a recent letter urging the Environmental Protection Agency to resolve issues at Piney Point in Manatee County.
Friday’s debate will be available to view online, on Spectrum channel 645 and Frontier channel 31.
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 4:21 PM.
