CHARLOTTE, NC — The Ebola outbreak and America’s response is the latest issue in North Carolina’s US senate race. Thom Tillis is criticizing Kay Hagan for not acting sooner.
With early voting for the November 4th election beginning this week, Tillis sat down with me today to talk about the issues.
“We need more decisive leadership,” said Tillis. “And Senator Hagan, I think, now has decided that some sort of travel ban makes sense. I wished she’d have joined me three weeks ago when I think it could have helped us.”
Thom Tillis has also been hammering Senator Hagan for missing key Armed Services Committee meetings on the threat posed by ISIS. I asked him how he’d hold himself accountable in Washington.
“Those are the sorts of meetings you just don’t miss,” said Tillis. “Those are the meetings I will not miss.”
The tone of this campaign has taken a decidedly negative turn as we approach the finish line. Despite endorsing many of these attack ads, Tillis says he wishes things were different.
“If you believed them, you’d think that Senator Hagan was a bad person, and that I was too,” said the candidate. “That’s sad. I wish that we could just focus on the issues.”
When it comes to those issues, Tillis is continuing the legal fight after a recent federal court decision overturned North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriages.
“60 percent of the people who voted, voted in favor of the measure to go in the constitution,” said Tillis. “I’ve sworn an oath to uphold the laws of North Carolina, so it’ll go through the process.”
Only 34 percent of registered voters made it to the polls to cast a ballot on Amendment One.
Tillis has been criticized in this campaign for cutting education funding. His response:
“We’ve increased funding for education to a billion dollars a year since I’ve been Speaker of the House, and we just gave a pay raise that’s one of the largest in a generation.”
Giving North Carolina teachers a raise took working across the aisle. That’s something Tillis says is missing in Washington.
“We’ve got economic issues. We’ve got national security issues,” said Tillis. “We need a Congress that is going to get engaged, send legislation to the President’s desk, heal this economy and protect our safety and security.”
This senate race could turn out to be the most expensive ever, with more than $100 million spent by the Tillis and Hagan campaigns.
I’m sitting down with Senator Kay Hagan on Thursday. Hear what she says about the issues Thursday night on WCCB News at Ten.
