US House Candidates Debate Over COVID, ACA, Vote-By-Mail, More

The nation’s response to coronavirus, and what it’s shown us as a country, came up Wednesday night during a Delaware U.S. House debate between Democratic Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester and Republican Lee Murphy.

Murphy, who called himself a COVID survivor, said trust should be placed with the citizens.

“We’ve learned a lot in the last six months since March. We have more information now. It’s time to reopen our schools. It’s time to reopen our economy,” Murphy said. “I trust the people of Delaware to make decisions for their families and businesses to open safely.”

Blunt Rochester, meanwhile, said the disproportionate impact on African-Americans and other minority populations could have been predicted.

“What we need to do is make sure as a country that we have testing, contact tracing, that we are putting people in isolation that need it and that they have treatment,” Blunt Rochester said. “This issue, we know, affects black and brown people disproportionately but we need to also have the data and make sure we target our resources.”

Blunt Rochester and Murphy have differing views on the future of the Affordable Care Act. The Congresswoman said a pandemic is a bad time to take away a coverage option, while the Republican challenger said “Obamacare” has been a burden on many families and the nation.

The debate was heard on WGMD and presented by the University of Delaware and Delaware Public Media.