PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD)– The race for the next 17th congressional seat is heating up with election day near.
Republican candidate Esther Joy King and democratic candidate Eric Sorensen went head-to-head at Bradley University in Peoria Monday night.
Both candidates were given two minutes to give an opening statement before the debate.
“I am running for a strong economy and safe communities,” said King.
“We need someone who is going to go to Washington and speak on our behalf, and that is going to happen because I understand the people here,” said Sorensen.
Questions ranged from topics like inflation, abortion laws, climate change, and most recently, migrants being bused to Illinois with cities like Bloomington-Normal and Peoria preparing for their potential arrival.
“We need to make sure we know every person crossing the border, and we have to secure it,” said Sorensen.
“There is a human rights crisis, immigrants are being human trafficked right now… we have to start by securing our southern border,” said King.
Another topic of debate is energy costs for residents and the concern of increased heating costs.
“I believe that if we prioritize American energy independence, we can start to help get our economy back on track,” said King.
“There’s a problem certainly, especially if the price of home heating goes up. Our federal government needs to tackle the price of goods,” said Sorensen.
