McAuliffe, Youngkin hold fiery debate on vaccinations, taxes

RICHMOND, Va. – Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin clashed Tuesday evening implicit vaccinations, taxation policy, acquisition and their respective records successful the 2nd and last statement successful Virginia's intimately watched gubernatorial election.

The lawsuit rapidly got disconnected to a combative start and neither campaigner fto up implicit the people of the hour, with each accusing the different of lying to voters.

Five weeks from Election Day and with aboriginal voting already underway, caller polls suggest a choky contention betwixt McAuliffe, who is seeking a 2nd word aft his archetypal ended successful 2018, and Youngkin, a erstwhile concern enforcement and governmental newcomer.

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Democrats made immense gains successful Virginia portion President Donald Trump was successful office, taking afloat power of authorities government, but Republicans are much energized and optimistic astir their chances this autumn than they person been successful years. The contest, 1 of lone 2 regularly scheduled governor's races this year, is besides drafting nationalist attraction arsenic a imaginable indicator of elector sentiment heading into adjacent year's midterms.

The archetypal question of the nighttime dealt with the coronavirus pandemic, and the candidates maintained the positions they’ve consistently outlined connected vaccine mandates, which McAuliffe mostly supports and Youngkin does not.

“He wants employers to occurrence employees who don’t get the vaccine,” said Youngkin, who is vaccinated and said helium believes everyone should get it.

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McAuliffe called Youngkin’s presumption connected the contented “disqualifying.”

Moderator Chuck Todd, NBC News governmental director, pressed Youngkin connected whether helium believed getting vaccinated for “measles, mumps oregon rubella is simply a idiosyncratic choice."

Youngkin struggled to find his words for respective seconds and past said: “I deliberation that the information associated with those vaccines is thing that we should perfectly recognize the quality betwixt this vaccine.”

When asked again, helium said helium thinks those vaccines “can beryllium mandatory.”

McAuliffe, arsenic helium has passim the campaign, consistently sought to necktie Youngkin to Trump, who mislaid Virginia by 10 points. At 1 constituent helium called Youngkin “bought and paid for” by the erstwhile president.

“There’s an over/under connected however galore times you’d accidental Donald Trump,” Youngkin responded. “You’re moving against me. It’s Terry McAuliffe against Glenn Youngkin.”

In the night’s last question, Todd asked Youngkin if helium would enactment Trump if helium ran for president successful 2024. After initially talking astir the question, Youngkin said, “If he’s the Republican nominee, I’ll enactment him.”

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One of the event's sharpest exchanges came during a question astir the state’s historical $2.6 cardinal surplus, which Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam has said is acknowledgment to the state’s beardown economical outlook but Youngkin has called the effect of overtaxation.

Asked wherefore immoderate of that wealth shouldn't beryllium returned to taxpayers, as Youngkin has proposed, McAuliffe argued that the Republican's “crazy” taxation strategy would devastate Virginia's system and pb to cuts successful nationalist education.

“Revenue and expenses, I cognize were hard for you. I cognize they’re hard for you,” Youngkin, a erstwhile co-CEO of The Carlyle Group, changeable back, to cheers from the audience. “At the extremity of the day, Terry, you person nary thought what you’re talking about.”

While Youngkin sought to represent McAuliffe arsenic a failed politician, McAuliffe went aft Youngkin’s inheritance successful backstage equity, citing unflattering quality reports astir the show of immoderate companies his steadfast acquired, including a nursing location concatenation that a Washington Post investigation recovered exposed its patients to “increasing wellness risks” and racked up wellness codification violations.

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On education, Youngkin said he'd seen schoolhouse systems “refusing to prosecute with parents” implicit the past 20 months, citing arsenic an illustration caller parental outrage successful Fairfax County implicit books with explicit intersexual content.

He knocked McAuliffe for vetoing a measure successful 2017 known arsenic the “Beloved” bill, aft the Toni Morrison novel, that would person allowed parents to opt retired of having their children survey materials deemed sexually explicit. Opponents of the measurement criticized it arsenic a signifier of censorship.

“I don’t deliberation parents should beryllium telling schools what they should teach,” McAuliffe said, successful a enactment Republicans sought to item online aft the event.

Virginia does not let its governors to service consecutive terms, and McAuliffe is seeking a uncommon instrumentality aft deciding against a tally for president successful 2020.

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Also connected the ballot this autumn are races for lawyer wide and lieutenant governor, positive each 100 seats successful the House of Delegates.

After overmuch backmost and distant this summer, Youngkin and McAuliffe agreed to lone 2 debates. Tuesday's event, hosted by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, was held astatine a assemblage assemblage field successful Alexandria.

Third-party campaigner Princess Blanding, who was not invited to participate, interrupted the debate, shouting from the assemblage astir the information that she was unopen out. The presumption went to a commercialized break.

She told The Associated Press earlier successful the time that the Chamber of Commerce had invited her to beryllium successful the assemblage and conscionable with the property afterward.

“The mode that felt to maine was, yes, you tin travel and get connected the autobus similar everybody other ... but you’re going to beryllium successful the backmost of the bus. I met the requirements conscionable similar they did to get connected the ballot, however, I’m being blocked,” she said.

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Election Day is Nov. 2, and the deadline to registry to ballot oregon update an existing registration is Oct. 12.

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Associated Press writer Denise Lavoie contributed to this report.

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