Ed Gillespie Reiterates Call for Ralph Northam to Join Him in Series of Ten Gubernatorial Debates

Transcript

“This week I put out a challenge to Lieutenant Governor Northam that he and I participate in 10 debates all across the Commonwealth in every region of Virginia. And I want to share with you why I think that is so important. Number one you know what we need to do in Southwest Virginia to address the challenges there are different from what we need to do in Northern Virginia or Hampton Roads, or the Northern Neck, or Southside, or the Shenandoah Valley, and I do think that voters all across Virginia have a right and should have the opportunity to see the two of us talk about the critical issues facing the Commonwealth we love. And the fact is that those challenges are many and the different approaches are clear. I believe we need lower taxes. I think we have got to make it easier to open a new business in Virginia and expand an existing one and put a greater focus on start-ups and scale-ups. My opponent has a different view relative to taxes given his record in voting for tax increases in the General Assembly. I believe that we need to not allow for the establishment of sanctuary cities here in the Commonwealth of Virginia. My opponent voted against the ban on sanctuary cities here. I think we need to have parents have greater control over our children’s education and make sure no child is trapped in a failing public school, and we need to reform our education system in order to allow for students to have more choices, more opportunities. I know when it comes to domestic energy production here in Virginia we can be a leader, and we can have good paying jobs while being environmentally sensitive and protecting private property rights, but you know Ralph Northam wants to impose a clean power plan and a cap and trade regime here in Virginia that will kill jobs and drive up cost to consumers and so these are very important differences that are going to have an impact on the future of Virginia not just for the next four years of the next governorship but frankly for the next 20 years. We are going to determine what kind of economy we are going to have here. Is it going to be an economy where we have young adults graduate from our high schools and colleges and universities and are able to have a career in Virginia or going to have to move out of the Commonwealth to find a career path? We’re seeing that too much right now. We’ve had three straight years where more people have moved out of Virginia than into Virginia. We’ve shed 69,000 manufacturing jobs during  the ten years that Lieutenant Governor Northam has served in elective office, and we’ve got to turn that trend around. We’ve got to create economic growth here. Our growth rate last year was six tenths of one percent, and we were 39th in the country in economic growth, trailing states like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut to our north, and the truth is, you know, by the end of the next governorship, we’re gonna look more like states to our north like that with higher taxes and more regulations and more mandates and more compulsory unionism, where you have to join a union in order to get a job and have your wages taken out in compulsory union dues, or we’re gonna look more like states to our south: the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida where they have dynamic economies. They’re all in the top twenty states in economic growth. We’re in the bottom half of states in economic growth, trailing New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. So this is a significant election, and the voters have a right, and they should have the opportunity to see us talk about our policy solutions and which way we want to take Virginia because the fact is we are either going to be the Northernmost Southeastern State or we are going to become the Southernmost Northeastern State. That’s kind of where we are and the choices couldn’t be more clear and we ought to have a civil conversation and debate and discussion of these differences of opinion and not just count on thirty second ads for voters to be able to get their information. They should be able to come and see and hear from us directly, and so if you see Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam out there encourage him, urge him to accept this challenge to participate in ten debates all across Virginia and if you’ve got ideas on where we should have these debates send them our way. We are open to any and all suggestions. So thanks for spending some time with me here today. I look forward to seeing you on the trail again soon.”