By Sydney Douglas
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Four candidates who are seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate squared off in a debate at Goucher College Thursday night, with each criticizing President Obama and saying a new Supreme Court justice should not be chosen until after the November election.
The GOP hopefuls also called for immigration reform – including the construction of a wall across the U.S.-Mexican border – and said Congress should replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
“The job of U.S. Senate is to block [judicial] nominations,” said Richard Douglas, an Iraq War veteran who has also served as a senior attorney for three U.S. Senate committees. “I am disappointed they [Republicans in Congress] did not use the power they have. They endorse the president’s agenda.”
Dave Wallace, the founder of Chesapeake Kitchen Wholesalers, said that if he were in the Senate, he would push for a conservative judge to replace Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died suddenly of natural causes last week.
“I want to see a constructionist Supreme Court justice,” Wallace said. “This president does not understand his role. No, you are not a king… he’s a bully. I want a Scalia model for our conservative values.”
The other two candidates – Joseph Hooe and Chrys Kefalas – also called for a conservative justice to replace Scalia.
“The most important thing I need is a justice that upholds this Constitution,” said Hooe, who is the founder of The Tire Network Inc. “That’s the key. I would like to see a conservative.”
“I would give the president a list of Supreme Court justices that I approve of,” said Kefalas, the vice president of the National Association of Manufactures who labels himself as a conservative homosexual.
The candidates also discussed their views and plans to bring change to the Senate if elected.
Douglas said the Affordable Care Act is the Achilles Heel of the government. He said the Republican Party needs to come up with something better.
He also said that a wall needs to be built across the U.S.-Mexican border, adding that illegal immigrants bring illegal drugs into the United States. He said he does not support the legalization or decriminalization of drugs.
Wallace said Obama “is hell bent on taking away our rights to bear arms.”
In regard to illegal immigrants from Mexico, Wallace said that if the Chinese could build a great wall several centuries ago, America could build an even greater barrier with today’s technology.
Hooe said he plans to secure the border by implementing a mandatory enlistment program that would require men and women over the age of 18 to spend eight weeks in basic training and to guard the border. College students and those with a job would be exempt from the program, he said.
Kefalas said that the Obama administration has an incoherent national defense strategy. He also said that Washington does not have a backbone. He said the first thing that needs to happen is for the federal government to stop funding to “sanctuary cities,” municipalities that do not go after illegal immigrants aggressively.
The debate was sponsored by the Towson University College Republicans and the Goucher College College Republicans. It was moderated by WBAL Radio talk show hosts Clarence Mitchell and Derek Hunter. There were about 250 people in the audience.
The Maryland primary is scheduled for April 26.
Although Maryland is known to be Democratic state, Republican Larry Hogan was elected governor in 2015.