Candidates for Congress meet in debate

The two Democrats looking to take James Comer’s District 1 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives faced off in debate during a League of Women Voters’ political forum Tuesday evening.

Alonzo Pennington of Princeton and Paul Walker of Murray will face each other in the May primary and debated several important topics, including healthcare, gun law reform and immigration policies.

Walker says he wants to represent all people and generations, and he’s committed to investing in education and the working class.

Pennington says people in Washington D.C. haven’t represented the real people of Kentucky for too long, and he intends to rebuild the middle class through improved infrastructure and job creation.

On the topic of healthcare, Pennington believes it’s a right and that everyone should have affordable healthcare to take care of themselves and their families. Walker says that healthcare falls somewhere in the middle between being a right or a privilege and it needs to be financially stable without losing quality.

Both men said they would support raising the minimum wage, with Walker saying he’s not sure what a good dollar amount would be and Pennington saying he would raise it to $12 or $15. Pennington feels there needs to be solid background checks before one can purchase weapons and a ban on bump stocks, while Walker feels that gun reform starts with studying the culture to figure out what is causing shootings in today’s society.

Whoever wins the May primary will go on to face incumbent Republican James Comer in November general election.

Hear the debate in full below:

https://soundcloud.com/user-350001776/us-rep-district-1-debate