Republican Congresswoman Kristi Noem and her Democratic challenger Matt Varilek spared in their only West River debate of the campaign season. The pair are running for South Dakota’s lone U.S. House seat in Congress. The West River debate was hosted by the Rapid City Journal.
Congresswoman Kristi Noem laid out her record and her effort to represent South Dakotans. She attacked Matt Varliek for supporting the Affordable Care Act, more federal spending, and the Obama Administration overall.
“I really truly believe that we have to change the failed policies of this administration, and that is what this is all about and the contrast between us. We have a lot of things in front of us that we have to deal with and talk about, and your choice is going to be very clear in this election,” says Noem
For his part Matt Varilek attacked Noem for failing to pass the Farm Bill, for voting to privatize part of Medicare in the Paul Ryan budget, and for failing to represent average South Dakotan’s over the interests of the ultra-wealthy.
“Washington seems rigged to serve somebody else other than the middle class, Washington seems rigged to serve the big campaign contributors. The millionaires and billionaires the big oil companies. Well I’m running to try and tip the balance back in favor of regular folks,” says Varilek.
Political scientists note that debates in South Dakota’s congressional races are rarely game changers. The candidates face each other in two more debates before the election in November. The fist is an SDPB-TV Debate on October 18th. The second a KELO Debate on November 2nd.