Henry Stewart-Wood's journalism
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Gov. Jay Inslee and Republican Gubernatorial Nominee Loren Culp debate COVID-19, Racial Inequality, Climate change during first and only debate
The two candidates faced off in a virtual debate moderated by local reporters.
​By Henry Stewart-Wood
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Governor Jay Inslee and Republican nominee Loren Culp stated their positions on topics including COVID-19 response, racial inequality, civil unrest, police reform and climate change during the first and only Gubernatorial debate Wednesday night.
Here’s a recap of each candidate’s position on those topics.
COVID-19:
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Gov. Inslee’s message during the debate was that his social distancing, stay at home orders, and mask mandates have been working and that Washington has a lower infection rate than 45 other states in the U.S. Inslee said the decisions he made saved thousands of lives.
Culp said he didn’t have a problem with people wearing masks, the problem he has is that Gov. Inslee ordered people what to wear and when to go to work. Culp said he believes people should be allowed to decide what’s best for their families and businesses.
Racial Inequality:
Both candidates were asked what policies they would institute to tackle systemic racism and close the gap of racial inequalities in sectors like healthcare and income.
Culp said both the State and Federal constitution state that everyone will be treated equally regardless of their race and he believes “that's the way it is and should be.” Culp said the best way to close the gap is by enforcing the law equally.
“Sure there are racists among us, and we need to root those people out when they commit crimes. Hate crimes is a felony in this state and it needs to be enforced,” Culp said.
Gov. Inslee said he is working on criminal justice reform to ensure police misconduct is investigated and prosecuted independently. Inslee went on to say we should look past criminal justice and into better healthcare, education and jobs for people of color. Gov. Inslee said under his administration 800,000 people in Washington receive healthcare under Obamacare and his apprenticeship programs offered people of color opportunities for well-paying jobs.
Police Reform:
Both candidates were asked if they support qualified immunity which protects abusive police, and rewriting police union contracts which would alllow cities to reform and restructure their police
Gov. Inslee said he is open to police reform, and that he created a task force led by the black community to generate solutions to police violence. Gov. Inslee also said he wants to improve the resources available to people during mental health crises.
“I’m open to discussions with the community rather than run out and propose solutions to all these things myself I’ve decided to listen to the citizens,” Gov. Inslee said
Culp said qualified immunity does not protect abusive police, and that “officers are prosecuted all the time for committing crimes.” Culp went on to say that Washington’s mental health care is a joke because of Gov. Inslee
“The mental health system in this state is a joke and he’s had eight years to do something about it but he lost the certification to Western State Hospital and with that went hundreds of beds and millions of dollars from the Federal government for our mental health system,” Culp said
Civil Unrest:
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On the topic of civil unrest and the Seattle protests over racial injustice Gov. Inslee said he cooperated and supported local law enforcement by deploying hundreds of National Guard troops as well as Washington State Troopers to the Capitol Hill neighborhood where the protests took place. Inslee expressed his support for peaceful protests:
“This is a very frustrating situation. I'll tell you what, you had tens of thousands of people peacefully protesting, tens of thousands of people marching, without breaking windows without starting fires, and in their midst, these folks came in and caused violence. It was very frustrating to those who believe this is a righteous cause.” Gov. Inslee said
Culp said Gov. Inslee’s response to the protests was soft on crime and criticized Gov. Inslee for disarming the National Guard troops. When asked how he would handle a situation as that Culp explained:
“When people are committing crimes, the National Guard will assist the local law enforcement to arrest the criminals and put them in jail where they belong. And the rest of the people that are involved in it will be told to disperse because it is a riot, and if they do not disperse they will be arrested as well. That’s how you deal with crime, that’s how you shut down a riot.”
The moderators and Gov. Inslee clarified that the decision to disarm National Guard was made by local elected officials, not the Governor’s office as Culp suggested.
Green energy/ climate change:
Both candidates were asked if they believed the forest fires this summer were related to climate change and what policies they would implement to curb climate change.
Culp said the fires were not due to climate change but rather poor management of the State’s forests by Gov. Inslee. Culp said nobody knows the land better than the farmers, fishers and loggers.
“I grew up on the water, I grew up hunting, nobody cares about the land and water more than people that actually have hands-on. We need to get bureaucrats out of the way,” Culp said.
Gov Inslee said we need to have a Governor in Washington who believes in the science of climate change and who believes in green energy. He said the management of the State’s forests has improved since he took office and that we need to focus on green energy for jobs and to address climate change.
“ We can grow jobs and we deserve a little more time to talk about this, about how we’re going to grow jobs in solar; like we’re doing in Bellingham in cross-laminated wood; like we’re doing in Spokane in solar panels and solar farm in Southeast Washington,” Gov. Inslee said.
Loren Culp and Gov. Inslee disagreed on nearly every issue brought up during the debate, whoever wins will have to tackle the issues brough on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest polls favor Gov. Inslee 53% to Culp 37% according to FiveThirtyEight, a national polling aggregate.
Eileen Lee, 22 year-old graphic design student at Western watched the debate and said the biggest issues for her were the social issues the protests, the environment and public safety during the pandemic.
The deadline to register to vote online or by mail in Washington is October 26, the deadline to register in-person is November 3. Voting begins Oct. 17 through Nov. 3, you can register to vote online here.