In a tough congressional contest, candidates Domenic Recchia and Michael Grimm debated once again at a local civic association on Staten Island on Wednesday night, but unlike previous showdowns between them, there were few fireworks. NY1′s Courtney Gross filed the following report.
Domenic Recchia and Rep. Michael Grimm entered a Staten Island country club on Wednesday for their fourth faceoff, but it was not like past debates. This time, the candidates barely raised their voices.
“It’s obvious, I think, that his camp coached him and sat him down and said, ‘You just can’t get that excited. It doesn’t look good representing. You’re running for the office of Congress,’” Grimm said.
“We just answered the questions that were presented to us,” Recchia said. “It was just a good discussion.”
Nonetheless, each had to deal with recent hurdles on the campaign trail before this audience.
For Recchia, it’s a question of experience and competence to serve in Congress after recent gaffes.
“I’m not a slick speaker like my opponent, but I’m someone who is going to go out and make things happen,” he said.
For Grimm, it’s a 20-count federal indictment. Just a day earlier, he was back in court, where a judge pushed back his tax fraud trial two months from December to February.
February would coincide with the next session of Congress.
“The calendar for Congress hasn’t been set for next year, so we have no idea how it will have an effect,” Grimm said. “But I can tell you one thing. I’ll do everything I can to minimize the effects.”
Wednesday’s event did give the candidates an opportunity to distinguish themselves, including on Obamacare.
Grimm says repeal it.
“Let’s repeal Obamacare,” he said. “It’s a disaster, it’s a train wreck, and it is destroying our health care system and is crippling our economy.”
Grimm, in fact, couldn’t recall how many times he’s voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
“I don’t even know how many times at this point. Many times,” he said. “I think that the pressure can build so much that the president will have to acquiesce.”
Recchia said it should be “fixed.” When NY1 asked him how exactly, his solution was a bit unclear.
“We don’t want to hurt small businesses, the Affordable Care Act, and we want to make sure when premiums, why, some premiums are going up 28 percent this year, we have to look at why, and I’m going to be the congressman that goes to Washington to address this issue,” Recchia said.
These candidates will face off one more time before Election Day. NY1 is hosting a live debate on October 28.
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