Clampitt and Queen debate in 2018 race.
Joe Sam Queen (D) and Mike Clampitt the candidates for North Carolina House District 119, squared off in a debate for a saga that has nearly as many installments as the Harry Potter books. But, instead of casting spells, they attempt to get your vote cast for them.
The debate took place at Western Carolina University and was broadcasted by BPR and live streamed on their facebook. Smokey Mountain News and BPR both moderated the debate which took place in the evening on Sept. 24.
The night started off slow with some technical problems that resulted in Queen having to repeat his opening statement. This was one of many oddities in a notable debate between two candidates who have been duking it out for the past 10 years.
Overall, Queen took a bit of a back seat during the debate, clearly playing the middle of the field. Clampitt fired shot after shot ridiculing Queens previous policy. Queen never returned this fire.
The hot button topic of the night was the controversy over the confederate statue in front of the courthouse in downtown Sylva. This topic lead Clampitt to accuse Queen a supporter of defunding the police. Clampitt would hold up a flyer while Queen spoke that alleged Queen will defund the police.
“I’m holding in my hand an item that came in the mail and it says, ‘Joe Sam Queen, defund the police, put our families in danger,’” Clampitt said. “He says he supports police. He voted four times on roll call votes in 2019. I can give you the dates. 5-2, 5-3, 6-26, 6-27, and the roll call votes on those, those numbers don’t lie, ladies and gentlemen. It’s in print.”
The votes Clampitt was referring to in the flyer were actually related to procedural budget votes . This was one of many instances during the debate where Clampitt pointed out specific legislation that Queen backed.
“That couldn’t be any further from the truth. That’s a straight-up lie,” Queen said pointing to the flyer. “That document he showed is a straight-up lie. The four things that they quote there is voting on the budget bill. Voting on it twice. We voted on it twice, a first reading and second reading. So that’s four votes. It doesn’t have a thing to do with defunding the police.”
Another big topic during the debate was the pandemic, an issue that Clampitt also was critical of Queen over. He said that it was a bad decision to completely shut down business as long as it has been. He believes that opening up with some restrictions is more favorable.
“Are we going to have the mask police out there? We already have enough issues with the police department and him wanting to defund them,” said Clampitt. “I don’t think that’s going to work right off hand. I think we’re infringing on personal liberties. I think we’re infringing on our personal freedoms. At some point this has got to stop. There is no such thing as a king in North Carolina. We have a governor, which needs to be replaced as well as his puppets like Mr. Queen need to be replaced. That’s why I’m asking for your vote.”
Queen took a different approach, showing support for both Cooper and mask wearing policies. He referred to scientific studies backing why masks are important.
“I support masks and I support the governor’s authority to mandate them,” said Queen. “If you’re walking out in open air, you don’t have to wear one, but if you’re going to go into a shop, into a store, into an enclosed environment, it’s my opinion in this pandemic from the research I’ve seen [that] it’s in all of our public health interest to wear a mask . . . If you see the scientific studies that we’ve been presented at the legislature on how important it is, then you would know you will do this,”
Both candidates claim they are the candidate for education. However, their approaches are drastically different. In a question submitted by WCJ, the candidates were asked to show how they are pro education in their own right.
Queen explained his support for early childhood education, and took this opportunity to take a jab at the Republican majority in the General Assembly.
“The universities have been cut 25 % in this decade by the Republican majority, the great university system of North Carolina that drives our economy. It’s really a key to North Carolina’s success,” Queen said. “You cannot cut their budget. You cannot cut their support. You have to support them, and universities, I’ve said the same thing, it’s very important to fund them, and that’s what I have done.”
Clampitt was critical of the way history has been taught in our schools earlier in the debate when discussing the removal of the statue in Sylva and said “we’re not teaching the real history. We’ve done away with U.S. history, we’ve taken discipline out of the schools, we’ve taken the pledge out of schools and we’re taking prayer out of schools . . . I think we need to go back to those things.”
To the current question Clampitt took a different angle.
“As a member of the State House I was a poster child for vocational education and training in community colleges beginning at the freshmen level in high school. That would give students the opportunity to learn a trade, have a trade, and decide if that fits into their outlook in life and the rest of their life, if not they can change it,” he said. “Western Carolina University, I think y’all got a new steam plant here a while back . . . well in 2016, 17, 18 that’s where that funding [came] from . . . Also, I’m an advocate for the STEM Act.”
Other notable clashes in the debate were the legalization of marijuana and raising the minimum wage. Queen is open to the recreational use of marijuana and a $15 minimum wage. Clampitt is only in favor of the medical use of marijuana and does not support the raise in minimum wage because he believes it would be a burden on business.
For some additional reading on the debate click here.
WCJ will continue to give updates on this race.
This story was written for the 2020 Elections Coverage Class.
