In an aggressive and personal debate, Gomez and Markey traded barbs over everything from Markey's legislative record to Gomez's ties to national Republican.
BOSTON – Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey and Republican private equity investor Gabriel Gomez came out swinging in their first debate Wednesday night.
Markey and Gomez are competing in a June 25 special election to win the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Secretary of State John Kerry.
“Mr. Markey, after 37 years in D.C., welcome back to Boston,” Gomez said, opening the debate with a reference to Markey’s longevity in Congress and his second home in Maryland.
The hour-long debate was held at the WBZ-TV studios and moderated by WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller with questions by the Boston Globe’s Cynthia Needham.
A recent poll by New England College put Markey 12 points ahead of Gomez, 52 percent to 40 percent. Trying to make up ground, Gomez attacked aggressively and Markey responded sharply.
From their first exchange, on gun control, the candidates were in sharp disagreement. Markey criticized Gomez for opposing bans on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, which Markey supports.
Gomez called Markey, “divisive” and said he was “the first and only political candidate to invoke the Newtown massacre for political gain,” referring to the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Markey shot back: “I’m not linking Mr. Gomez to Newtown. That’s a ludicrous position he has. It’s not as ludicrous as his position on banning assault weapons.”
Gomez has said he would support the Toomey-Manchin bill, a bill to expand background checks for gun purchases, sponsored by West Virginia Democrat. Joe Manchin and Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey. Markey responded that Toomey-Manchin is “the minimum.” “That’s something senators from West Virginia can support,” Markey said. “We’re Massachusetts. We’re supposed to be special.”
Markey touted his legislative accomplishments, while Gomez criticized him as a creature of Washington. Talking about Markey’s record in Congress, Gomez charged, “Over the last 20 years, you haven’t authored a single piece of legislation signed into law.”
Markey retorted that Gomez “couldn’t be more wrong.” He pointed to bills that created a national plan to research a cure for Alzheimer’s, that achieved easier internet access for deaf and blind people, that created a new model of health care with incentives for caring for people at home, and that required screening for bombs on ships. All became law as part of legislative packages or as Senate bills similar to bills Markey sponsored in the House.
Gomez repeatedly criticized Markey for putting “party and politics ahead of people.” One instance came regarding the congressional investigation into the attack at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, which killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other people, including Massachusetts native Glen Doherty.
A House Republican-led committee has questioned former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s responsibility in mismanaging the government’s response to the attacks. Markey said Republicans are politicizing the hearings, since Clinton may run for president in 2016.
Gomez asked Markey, “How can you sit here and say that you’re more worried about Secretary Clinton’s potential presidential run as opposed to what happened to Glen Doherty and why he died?”
Markey responded, “You’re the one, and the Republicans in Congress, who are politicizing this issue,” noting that House Republicans brought Clinton up at every hearing.
While Gomez portrayed himself as a person with fresh ideas, Markey tied Gomez to the old ideas of national Republicans who have contributed to him, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Republicans, Markey said, “want Mr. Gomez to go down there to get a majority to further the gridlock they’ve fostered over the last generation.”
Gomez shot back, “If you wanted to run against Newt Gingrich or George Bush or Gerald Ford, who was president when you were down there for the first time, you should have run against them.”
There were substantive exchanges. On abortion, Gomez said he supports the concept, which some states have passed, of instituting a 24-hour waiting period where a woman must review information about the development of a fetus before she can get an abortion. But Gomez said while he is pro-life, “I’m not going down there to change any laws. I won’t spend a single minute of any day to change any laws.”
Markey, who is pro-choice, said the decision to get an abortion should be between women and their physicians, and should not be made by politicians. He said he would not vote for a Supreme Court justice who would overturn Roe v. Wade. Gomez has said he would have no litmus test.
Asked how they define middle class in Massachusetts – a question that has come up regarding tax policy, Markey said an income of $80,000 to $200,000; Gomez said $80,000 to $175,000.
On foreign policy, Gomez said he would support establishing a no-fly zone in Syria – and would not wait for United Nations approval. He said the U.S. should also align itself with “the right rebel group” in Syria and should, at a minimum, supply aid to rebel groups that will take over should Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fall.
Gomez noted that the conflict has been going on a year and a half and 80,000 people have died. “We have the opportunity to take out Iran’s best friend and ally,” he said.
Markey said he would not send ground troops to Syria. He said a no-fly zone, if done wrong, could lead to military escalation that would pull the U.S. in on the ground. He said he would work to build a coalition of partners and would send material aid. But he would be cautious about providing military aid to rebels that could have unintended consequences.
Asked whether Attorney General Eric Holder should resign over revelations that the Justice Department seized journalists’ phone records in a leak probe, Gomez said, “I do believe Attorney General Holder should resign.”
Markey said there should be a shield law protecting reporters’ rights to maintain confidential sources. He said a congressional committee is still having hearings to determine the next step.
