Student Council hosted a debate last night between Republican state senator candidate T.J. Aldous and incumbent Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, in Nau Auditorium. Deeds has held the seat since 2001.
The hour-long debate was held in town hall-style, allowing audience members to ask questions. Topics covered included health care initiatives, the raising of taxes and funding for higher education.
Deeds said his long-term goal is to re-prioritize state funding to support higher education to keep tuition and student loans low. He cited the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill's spending of $2 on students for every $1 the University spends, and said the state government of Virginia should also be able to find funding for its students.
"Until we can fix that inequality, North Carolina's going to eat our lunch when it comes to education," Deeds said.
Aldous disagreed, saying while it would be nice to have everything paid for, there simply is not enough money in the budget to subsidize everything in higher education. He did say, however, that it is important for people to pursue higher education and if necessary, take loans and work part-time to pay for it.
"We can either ask taxpayers to fund everyone, or we can ask students who are benefitting [from the education] ... to pay for all of that," Aldous said. "You appreciate much more of what you get if you work for it than if it's just given to you."
Both candidates, however, agreed that creating jobs for students leaving college was a very important factor for reducing student-loan debt and spurring economic growth.
Several times throughout the debate, Aldous challenged Deeds' support for projects located outside of his own district and questioned the senator's working relationship with Gov. Bob McDonnell. Aldous noted McDonnell's success in bringing jobs to the commonwealth, and criticized Deeds for not interacting with McDonnell throughout that effort.
"Mr. Deeds hasn't spoken to Gov. McDonnell in two years. We need a senator who will work with our governor," Aldous said. "We don't need someone who will represent Northern Virginia or Richmond; we need someone who will represent us."
Deeds rebutted the idea that he hasn't been supporting the 25th district, saying instead that he's been able to perform his duties as a representative of one district while simultaneously protecting the interests of the entire state. He cited a Washington Post gubernatorial endorsement from 2009 which discussed his political involvement across the state.
"[The Washington Post] weren't saying that I'd been a legislator for Northern Virginia," Deeds said. "They were saying that I'd been a legislator for the entire state."
Council Legislative Affairs Co-Chair Alex Reber said this is the closest contested race to the University community.
"It's important to understand the issues that are coming forth so you can make an informed decision, [and] it's important that people look at the facts [and] figures and make decisions that aren't based on partisan bickering," Reber said.
The election will be held Nov. 8.
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