LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The two candidates vying for the seat of Arkansas's 2nd Congressional District spent much of the debate hosted by Arkansas PBS showing voters what separates them on the issues.
Voters on November 5 will have the chance to either re-elect incumbent Republican Congressman French Hill or Democratic challenger Marcus Jones to represent most of Central Arkansas.
During the debate, the two faced a series of questions from the moderators that ranged from local issues like rural hospitals to broad national topics such as immigration reform and reproductive rights.
Immigration reform
The biggest disagreement during the debate came regarding border security and immigration reform, especially when it comes to the United States' southern border.
Much of the conversation was around the bipartisan support for a border package that was designed to solve the ongoing issue at the border. That legislation would fail after Republicans blocked its passage.
Hill criticized the bill due to it setting an "arbitrary" amount of 5,000 illegal border crossings and didn't believe the border closings should act like "an on and off switch."
But in Feb. 2024 Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, one of three who championed the bill, said that emergency ability to close the border "is not designed to let 5,000 people in, it is designed to close the border and turn 5,000 people around."
The congressman instead said he supported H.R. 2, a 2023 bill that would have restricted asylum seekers, build more of the border wall, and eliminate a program that allowed migrants to stay in the country.
Jones, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, said he lived south of the Rio Grande in Texas during his service and said the border problems is a national security crisis and a humanitarian crisis. He claimed that Hill worked against passing the bipartisan bill.
"I'm ready to get that bipartisan bill passed so that we can truly have immigration reform for the first time in three decades," Jones said.
Reproductive rights
When it came to talking reproductive rights in Arkansas, Jones criticized the state's near abortion ban which does not include exceptions for instances of rape, incest, or fatal fetal anomalies. To not have those exceptions is "simply cruel," according to Jones.
"A strong nation protects women's rights, it does not invade their exam room," Jones said. "And right now, my 19-year-old daughter has less rights in this state than her grandmother had 50 years ago."
But both Jones and Hill agreed during the debate that they were against a nationwide ban on abortion access. Jones would assert that Hill's comments have been just "lip service."
In response, Hill would say the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court moved abortion laws back to the states and that he supported exceptions for rape and incest.
"We want our women to have health care rights and access to care, and that's why community health centers provide extraordinarily capable women's health care in 173 locations across our 75 counties, and we need to continue to work on maternal health care," Hill said.
Tariffs
While both candidates indicated they weren't big fans of tariffs, Rep. Hill thought the threat of tariffs presents an opportunity to "bring people to the negotiating table."
"I think threatening tariff and non-tariff barriers of countries like China, particularly that are predatory and mercantilistic in their trade policy, can bring them to the negotiating table," Hill said.
The congressman also noted that the Biden-Harris administration kept many of the China tariffs that were enacted while Donald Trump was president.
Jones would cite the latest comments by Trump on tariffs, who has threatened 200% tariffs on John Deere. "Just imagine the impact that is going to have for farmers here in Central Arkansas."
He would also label tariffs as essentially a "sales tax passed on to the consumer."
School safety & gun reform
Jones, a gun owner and a supporter of the Second Amendment, told the moderators that gun reform is a part of the solution to address the safety of children in schools. He said we have to have common sense solutions.
"It does not violate anyone's Second Amendment to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, it does not violate anyone's Second Amendment to close any loopholes on ghost guns that may move through criminals through our society, it does not violate anyone's Second Amendment to look at safe and secure storage options," Jones said.
The gun issue is also a public safety issue and part of that effort is improving mental health funding for schools, according to Hill. The congressman also suggested that Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders take up recommendations that were created under former Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Jones would hit back at Rep. Hill citing a New York Times list that put the Republican incumbent at the top of the House for receiving the most amount of N.R.A. funding through either donations or "spending to benefit the candidate."
"Congressman Hill will not ever vote for the common sense gun reforms I talked about," Jones said. "He will not represent Arkansas families in that way. He has already sold that vote."
Hill would respond saying he has voted for common sense reforms and supported school funding to support the safety of children.
"As a father of two— they were in high school when I started my run for Congress, no one wants to get a call from their school about any kind of an effort that involves shooting death or mayhem," Hill said. "And that's why I think behavioral health, mental health resources in the schools are so critical, and I'll continue to support those efforts."
You can watch the full debate below or it will be available on Arkansas PBS as well as our THV11+ app, which is free to download.