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Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton and Republican challenger Hung Cao traded barbs once again in a 10th Congressional District debate Wednesday night.
Wexton tried to highlight Cao鈥檚 abortion and gun rights views, saying the Republican was 鈥渙utside of the mainstream鈥� of 10th District voters.
Cao, meanwhile, continued to focus on rising inflation, interest rates and an uncertain economy.
鈥淚 called Mr. Cao an extremist because his views are extreme,鈥� Wexton said in her closing remarks at the Manassas Park Community Center, referring to a mailer Wexton鈥檚 campaign had sent out and remarks Cao had made at a previous debate on Sunday. 鈥淗e鈥檚 extreme on gun violence prevention. After 19 elementary school children and two teachers were gunned down in Uvalde, he said if there weren鈥檛 guns, it鈥檇 be knives or hammers or something like that.鈥�
Cao focused on high gas prices and inflation, saying the Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress had caused inflation through environmental protection regulations they鈥檇 placed on the oil and gas industry.
鈥淚nstead of relying on American workers, who have the cleanest practices in the world, we鈥檙e now going to Saudi Arabia, we鈥檙e going to Venezuela and even to Iran,鈥� he said. 鈥淸Biden] killed the Keystone pipeline XL, he killed a lot of infrastructure and also put a lot of regulations on refineries and the oil industry.鈥�
On abortion, Wexton didn鈥檛 get into specifics on what she would want federal legislation enshrining abortion rights into law would look like, but she said decisions over reproductive rights should be left to women and their doctors. Cao told the crowd that he was 鈥渁bsolutely pro-life鈥� and that he didn鈥檛 want to see Congress getting involved. Instead, he said, the laws around abortion should be left to state legislators.
He also accused Wexton of wanting 鈥渁bortion up to the moment of birth鈥� and said a law existed allowing such a procedure, while no such law exists.
On local issues like the PW Digital Gateway proposal that would increase the amount of land available for data center usage in the county, both candidates rehashed talking points from an earlier debate, with Cao saying he was concerned about potential impacts on the Occoquan River watershed and Wexton saying that while the proposal would be up to local leaders and not members of Congress, she wanted any significant land-use changes to be done carefully and without impacts to the Manassas National Battlefield Park.
Moderator Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of political science at Mary Washington University, also asked the candidates about possibly expanding Metro into Prince William County. In 2021, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation completed a preliminary study on possibly expanding Metrorail, bus rapid transit or express bus service into the county, but any potential implementation of those options remain years, or even decades, away.
Cao said he would support the expansion of Metro, in particular given the upcoming change I-66 from HOV-2 to HOV-3, but he said he wouldn鈥檛 want it to become a 鈥渄ebacle,鈥� as he put it, like the Silver Line expansion to Dulles Airport, which is years behind schedule and over budget.
And on the Virginia Department of Education鈥檚 recent policy changes regarding treatment of transgender students in public schools, the candidates were even more pointed than their last debate.
Cao said simply that 鈥渂iological boys shouldn鈥檛 be in girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms or sports.鈥�
Wexton said the new policies 鈥渧ilify鈥� kids who already suffer from higher rates of suicidal ideation and depression.
鈥淥f course parents should be involved in their kids鈥� lives when it comes to schools,鈥� Wexton said. 鈥淭hings like this are not helping, I talk to providers in the area who say that they鈥檙e getting frantic calls from kids. That shouldn鈥檛 be happening.鈥�
So far, Wexton鈥檚 campaign has far outraised and outspent Cao鈥檚 in her bid for a third term. But the Cao campaign announced earlier this week that in the third quarter, it had raised over $1 million, more than double his previous total fundraising haul. The Cao campaign also released its first official 30-second ad, highlighting his story of fleeing Vietnam with his family at the age of 4 and going on to reach the rank of captain in the U.S. Navy.
Most election handicappers have the district 鈥� which includes parts of Prince William, Fauquier, Fauquier, Loudoun and Fairfax counties 鈥� as a likely Democratic seat. Its precincts favored Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe by a slight margin over Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin last year, but election analysis site FiveThirtyEight shows it having an 8-point Democratic lean.
There were some points of agreement on Wednesday night, though they were few and far between. With Youngkin pushing a plan to continue relying on natural gas until Virginia can become 鈥渢he world鈥檚 leading nuclear energy hub,鈥� both candidates said they wanted to see more nuclear energy produced in the commonwealth. Dominion Energy currently operates two nuclear power plants in Virginia, one in North Anna and the other in Surry.
Cao said that the Navy鈥檚 been using nuclear safely for 75 years and that the U.S. should 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� expand its use.
鈥淣uclear energy is very safe, very clean, and the most efficient thing out there,鈥� he said, with Wexton agreeing that more nuclear energy should be produced.
Both candidates also called for better border security, though Cao said he wanted to see 鈥渢aller walls and wider gates鈥� on the U.S.-Mexico border. Wexton said that the country should use more advanced technology to secure the border while making it easier for 鈥渄reamers鈥� 鈥� people who were brought to the U.S. as children and have been here for more than a decade 鈥� and temporary protected status holders to attain legal status.
On election security and foreign policy, though, the differences remained stark. Wexton pointed out that Republican legislators in many states have moved to appoint partisans who鈥檝e supported the lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 election to oversee elections, while Democrats have pushed to expand voting access through early voting, same day registration and mail-in ballots.
Cao called fears about Republican-backed voting restrictions 鈥渋nsulting鈥� to minorities and said that in Iraq and Afghanistan, elections were made secure because ink was used to mark ballots and those who鈥檇 already voted. 鈥淰oting is up to the states and the states will manage it,鈥� Cao said.
When asked about Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine, Wexton said it was important to continue to support the Ukrainians and that doing so is 鈥渁bout democracy all over the world.鈥�
Cao, on the other hand, said the U.S. was spending too much on propping up the Ukrainian government.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why we鈥檙e worried so much about a border 鈥� between Russia and Ukraine, and we鈥檙e not worried about our own border,鈥� he said.
