Flores, Kihuen, Lee spar in final debate of CD4 primary race

The three leading Democratic candidates for Nevada’s 4th Congressional District jousted over a host of issues from health care to foreign policy Wednesday night in an hourlong televised debate, their last appearance together before the June 14 primary election.

For more than six months, the candidates have appeared together at a number of forums and town halls hosted by community groups across the valley. But Wednesday’s debate on "Ralston Live," hosted by political journalist Jon Ralston, was both their first and last chance to make their case in front of a live television audience.

The first half-hour of the debate aired live on PBS in both Las Vegas and Reno on Wednesday night. The second half, which was open to the media, taped Wednesday and will air Thursday night.

Only three Democratic candidates for the district — former Assemblywoman Lucy Flores, state Sen. Ruben Kihuen, and philanthropist Susie Lee — out of eight total met the criteria set by the PBS stations for participating in the debate. That criteria included demonstrating evidence of an active campaign, having a certain standing in the polls and fundraising a certain amount.

(One of the candidates who was not invited to the debate, Dan Rolle, staged a protest outside Vegas PBS at the beginning of the debate and livestreamed it on the app Periscope.)

Ralston kicked off the debate by giving the candidates the opportunity to go after one another on their legislative records — or lack thereof. Asked about a television advertisement couching her opponents as “career politicians,” Lee said that people are “sick and tired of politicians who are more interested in the next job than doing what they’re elected to do.”

Kihuen pushed back, saying “sometimes you need somebody with experience.” He defended his fight to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, highlighting the “simple fact” that they got a hearing on the $15 minimum wage bill under a Republican-controlled Legislature.

“The bottom line is this: Republicans don’t want to increase the minimum wage,” Kihuen said. “Cresent Hardy is against raising the minimum wage.”

Flores, in turn, called herself the most “effective legislator,” highlighting her work in passing a domestic violence prevention law and changing the way that kids test out of high school. She sought to paint Kihuen as the opposite, saying that his accomplishments only came this last legislative session and noting that he didn’t introduce a single bill during the 2011 session.

(She has made that argument before, often going after his 2015 legislative record, too. Though Kihuen didn’t introduce any bills in 2011, six of the 10 he introduced in 2013 were eventually signed into law.)

When Kihuen quipped that he wasn’t “here to attack a fellow Democrat,” Flores fired back saying “records are fair game.”

Flores criticized Lee once again for the $300,000 in personal loans she has made to her campaign. “Why should someone who has half a million dollars lying around have an advantage in our political system?” Flores said.

In defense, Lee stressed that in “every part of my career I have made a difference in the lives of people in this community.”

All of the candidates agreed that access to college affordability was important, though they differed on what that meant. Kihuen advocated for making two-year college free, Lee suggested expanding Pell Grants and reducing the cost of higher education, while Flores advocated for making college entirely free, like Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has proposed.

“At the end of the day it is about resources, it is about funding,” Flores said.

Sanders, who Flores endorsed for president, cropped up in another question on health care. Flores said that she supported the single-payer health care system Sanders has proposed and suggested that Hillary Clinton might come around to the idea, too. (Earlier this year, Clinton said the system would “never, ever” happen.)

Kihuen and Lee, meanwhile, said they supported an expansion of the Affordable Care Act.

“(Obama) fought tooth and nail for this and it's a good start,” Kihuen said. “Now we have millions of new people receiving health care.”

Kihuen added that he does not support the so-called “Cadillac tax” portion of the act, which most unions — like the ones that back Kihuen — strongly oppose.

To stress the importance of affordable care, Lee used the example of how her parents almost lost their house after her mother had a heart attack.

“I think we fought for almost 20 years to get the Affordable Care Act, and I think there’s a lot of room to improve the accessibility and affordability,” Lee said.

Flores has been vocal throughout her campaign about wanting to expand Social Security and affirmed her support for the plan put forward by Sanders. She firmly denied that it was a “pipe dream,” comparing the issue to the fight for a $15 minimum wage, which she said was “completely unheard of” but is continuing to build momentum across the country.

“I think the point is this: We are ready for people, for our leaders to stop playing defense and start playing offense on these issues,” Flores said.

Lee and Kihuen also said they would support an expansion of Social Security.

In the second half of the debate, Ralston pressed the candidates on foreign policy. Asked about what the United States’ strategy in Syria should be, Flores first said that an “interventionist strategy is the wrong strategy.” She later softened that position, saying that boots on the ground should only be a “last resort.”

Meanwhile, Kihuen advocated against the country embroiling itself in another war so soon after pulling out of Iraq. “For us to turn around and get into another one is not the best decision for America,” Kihuen said.

Lee suggested that it was time for the country to reevaluate its relationship with Syria as well as partner with other countries to reach a solution. But when asked about Iran, Lee maintained her position that the Iran deal was not the right course of action, though she would not favor repealing the deal.

“I feel Iran is a destabilizer in the region and a great exporter of terrorism,” Lee said.

Flores tried to frame Lee’s stances on Syria and Iran as contradictory, saying in one instance Lee was favoring compromise and collaboration with other countries and in the other she wasn’t. Flores, who supports the deal, said that the compromise was about “ensuring there are plenty of accountability measures.”

Kihuen said the deal was a “once in a lifetime opportunity to negotiate this agreement” and that he believes approving it was the right decision.

Ralston pressed the candidates on what President Barack Obama and his administration had done right or wrong with regard to foreign policy.

Kihuen praised the administration for working with allies in the Middle East to try and bring about peace. “I believe that the president and, under Secretary Clinton and John Kerry, has made steps toward bringing a little bit more peace to the area,” Kihuen said. “But again, this is going to be an ongoing effort.”

Flores agreed, saying the “relative stability of the region” was thanks to the support the United States has given Israel and other allies in the region. But she added that the country is also at fault for creating some of the problems.

“We created some of these issues. We acknowledged that,” Flores said. “We know that because we went in and destabilized some of these countries by taking out some of these regimes that it created a leadership vacuum.”

Lee agreed that the Middle East has been a challenge for the United States, but demurred when pressed whether Obama had made things better or worse. However, she criticized the way that the country often intervenes abroad.

“The problem is we’re going into a region of the world and having interventionist policies at some point and withdrawing without the backup to stabilize what we’ve created,” Lee said.

As the debate concluded, Ralston cornered the candidates on one of their favorite subjects and one of their least favorite legislators: Republican Rep. Cresent Hardy, who currently represents the district. Whoever wins the primary, will fight to oust him from his seat in November.

Ralston asked the candidates for their thoughts on the Eastern Nevada Land Implementation Improvement Act, which was introduced into the House by Hardy and passed the chamber this week.

Flores admitted that she wasn’t familiar with the bill, while Lee jumped in saying she didn’t support it.

“But it encourages the BLM to work with Lincoln County. Supposedly it’s a cooperative project,” Ralston said. “You still don’t like it?”

“I think we need to look at these issues on case-by-case basis,” Lee said.

Kihuen joined Lee in opposition to the bill, saying he was concerned “anytime a congressman takes his cues from Cliven Bundy,” referring to the Nevada rancher who led an armed standoff against law enforcement in 2014.

He then pivoted to praising Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for his work on protecting public lands and creating more national monuments, noting that Reid had endorsed him in the race along with President Bill Clinton.

The caveat to the question: The legislation is supported by all six members of Nevada’s congressional delegation, Reid and Democratic Rep. Dina Titus included.

Kihuen later released a statement saying he mistook the bill that makes “modest changes to federal and law” for one of Hardy’s “numerous extreme anti-public land legislative efforts” and that he would’ve supported the bill in Congress.