Full: Ernst, Braley Trade Blows In First Iowa Senate Debate

Democrat Rep. Bruce Braley spent most of the first Iowa Senate debate on his heels, forced to defend his skipping out of hearings on veterans’ affairs, votes on healthcare and past gaffes.

Republican Joni Ernst, an Iowa state senator who potentially could become the first female senator elected by Iowans, too had to explain her positions on social issues, minimum wage and Social Security. The heated debate tool place just one night after an Iowa poll showed the Republican up by six points.

Ernst came on swinging on ObamaCare, immigration and Braley’s record, stating that he is running a negative campaign because he cannot defend against his positions and record.

“Every Iowan deserves access to affordable healthcare. But ObamaCare is not the answer in this case,” Ernst said on ObamaCare. “We are seeing it cost jobs,” she added, noting studies of layoffs among insurance workers and physicians. “It’s also an increased tax on Iowans and Americans, $1.2 trillion.”

Braley, who is a member of the Veterans Affairs’ Committee, also found himself defending his dedication to veterans. Enrst noted that Braley missed 75 percent of the hearings with the panel.

“I’ve been there for veterans,” he said “I’ve made 97 percent of the votes at the VA hearing to stand up for veterans and I fight for them every day.”

Not only did Braley attend just 4 out of 19 hearings of the full Veterans’ Affairs Committee from 2011 to 2012, according to minutes from the U.S. Government Printing Office, but subsequent explanations for why he missed a whopping 78 percent of those hearings are turning out to be false.

A report from the Des Moines Register claimed Braley attended three fundraisers for his own campaign on Sept. 20, 2012, a day the committee was slated to address VA backlogs and a gross lack of oversight at the Veterans Administration. The DMR poll showed two-thirds of Iowans say Braley skipping those meetings were a real problem.

However, Braley came back at Ernst on issues such as the minimum wage, which she does not believe should even exist. Braley charged that Ernst did not want to raise Iowa’s wage. Instead of responding directly, Ernst said Braley’s proposal to raise the minimum wage would not improve the economy.

“If 300,000 Iowans would get a pay raise simply by raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, that tells me that a lot of Iowans are missing out on this booming economy that Sen. Ernst is talking about,” Braley said.

The vast amount of economic data come to a consensus that minimum wage increases do cost jobs. A recent CBO report says the plan by President Obama and fellow Democrats to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would cost at least 500,000 jobs. Outgoing Sen. Tom Harkin, whose seat the two candidates are racing to fill, authored the Senate legislation that would raise the minimum wage.

“And as the CBO report affirms, an increase in the minimum wage will help lift families out of poverty,” he said. But the CBO didn’t support that position.

A Des Moines Register poll released Saturday found Ernst pulling ahead in the race, 44 percent to 38 percent. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was forced to release internal polling showing the race was tied, but internals are dubious at best.

The Iowa Senate race is rated a “Toss-Up” by PPD’s 2014 Senate Map Predictions model.