BUENA VISTA, Va. (WDBJ) – The U.S. Senate race pits an experienced incumbent against a political newcomer facing voters for the first time.
Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Hung Kao met for the first time at Norfolk State University in early October, sparring in the only debate of the Senate race.
“The choice is very clear for Virginians," Kaine said during the debate. “Do you want results or do you want extremism?”
“This country is moving in a dark direction. The Democratic Party is trying to turn this country into the country I fled from,” Cao said.
Mr. Cao came to the United States as a refugee in 1975 after leaving Vietnam with his family. He is a former Navy captain who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
He said Virginia voters are ready for change.
“Ask yourself this question: Are you better now than you were four years ago? Because if your answer is yes, you are probably an illegal alien,” Cao said. said in an interview. “You know, I’ve been fighting for us for 25 years in Naval Special Operations around the world, but I’m not done fighting for America yet.”
Kaine, who is completing his second six-year term in the U.S. Senate, also served as mayor of Richmond, lieutenant governor and governor of Virginia during his 30-year political career.
And he says he has been a consistent contributor to the state and Western Virginia.
“We’re repairing Interstate 81. We’re building the Coalfield Expressway. We’re expanding the Volvo factory in Dublin. A new clinic in downtown Buena Vista, where Rockbridge and Lexington are located. We just got $2.5 million to build it,” Cain told the crowd at a Labor Day celebration in Buena Vista.
Meanwhile, Kane has doubts about Mr. Cao’s commitment to rural Virginia.
“I’m always on the go, meeting Virginians,” Cain says in the campaign commercial. “I didn’t understand when my opponent called Staunton a ‘podunk’ and wouldn’t even drive to Abingdon.”
Cao Cao attacked Cain’s accomplishments during his tenure.
“I didn’t fight for Republicans or Democrats. I fought for all Americans,” Cao says in one of his campaign ads. “Now, career politicians like Tim Kaine are putting party before country.”
What happens at the top of the election could impact Senate races, along with major national issues such as abortion rights.
But with early voting just 30 days away and Election Day just over two weeks away, both men are now focused on the important task at hand: getting to the polls.
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