In his first debate this election cycle, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., faced off Monday against Lawrence Zupan, a Republican real estate agent making a long shot bid to unseat him.
The debate, hosted by Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS, was characterized by fiery exchanges between the two candidates. While Zupan accused Sanders of “promoting socialism over American principles” the senator tried to draw comparisons between Zupan and national Republicans, including President Donald Trump.
Zupan, a Manchester-based businessman who has never held public office, is running on a platform focused on cutting taxes and promoting a business friendly environment by removing regulations. Both Zupan and Sanders were born and raised in New York City.
During the debate, hosted by VPR’s Jane Lindholm, Zupan compared Sanders’ progressive policy agenda to authoritarian regimes such as those in Venezuela and North Korea.
“Senators Sanders’ big top-down government control, which he calls ‘revolutionary,’ has caused more lack, want, suffering of the human spirit and death than any other system in the history of the world,” he said. “And this Venezuelan system is what Senator Sanders wants to bring to the shores of the blessed country of the United States of America.”
Sanders accused Zupan of using tactics that have been harnessed by Trump to discredit his liberal positions.
“What you’re doing is echoing your good friend, the president,” Sanders said.
“These thoughts come from my mind and my heart,” Zupan retorted.
“Well they’re pretty pathetic thoughts,” Sanders said. “Because what you are doing is doing what Trump does. You’re equating my thoughts with Venezuela which is a failed economy. Why don’t you equate it with what goes on in Denmark and Sweden?”
Republicans nominated Zupan to run for the U.S. Senate seat in August, days away from the general election candidate deadline. Zupan lost the GOP primary against H Brooke Paige, who also won five other statewide offices but gave them up to a last-minute slate of candidates.
Since his nomination, Zupan has blasted Sanders for his national political ambitions, which he argues have led the incumbent to neglect his duties in the Senate. During the debate, Zupan pointed out at Sanders had missed scores of votes in recent years.
Sanders said that he has always made Vermont a major priority, and that his bid for the presidency in 2016 inherently drew him away from the nation’s capital and to locations around the country.
“Obviously when you run for president of the United States, you’re going to miss votes. I made it my business, by the way, to come back to Washington when there were key votes, when my votes mattered,” Sanders said.
He also argued that his run for president helped popularize progressive positions—like raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and instituting a universal healthcare system— in mainstream political discussions.
Sanders, who insists he has not decided whether to make another presidential run in 2020, is now in the midst of a nine state tour to drum up enthusiasm for progressive Democrats who face contested midterm elections.
Monday afternoon’s debate also waded into topics like climate change and abortion.
Zupan avoided answering whether he believed climate change is being caused primarily by human activity, but said he supported rapidly expanding renewable energy sources, by preventing the federal government from stalling companies that could be developing the technology faster.
“Never mind having 35 percent renewables by 2050… we could have 90-100 percent renewables by 2030. What the U.S. government has to do is stop stifling innovation by subsidizing industries that aren’t able to carry their own weight,” he said.
Sanders compared Zupan’s position on climate change to those of his Republican colleagues in Washington and said he would take on the fossil fuel industry and Trump, “who are more concerned about the short term profits of the oil industry and the coal industry than they are about the future of America.”
Sanders, who has strong pro-choice views on abortion, asked Zupan during the debate whether he believed the government should be able to decide whether women can abort pregnancies.
“How far outside a mother’s womb does the baby have to be before you would forbid the doctor from punching its skull and vacuuming out its brain?” Zupan responded.
Zupan went on to say that he thinks abortion rights have already been established in “settled law.” But he believes women should not be forced into a “binary choice” of whether to have an abortion, or raise a child themselves.
He said the government should encourage women to consider other options like adoption or ministries that can help take care of children. “There are so many other options rather than abortion or poverty,” he said. `
Political analysts and pollsters say Zupan’s odds of besting Sanders in the general election are slim to none.
According to recent polling from Morning Consult, Sanders is the most popular U.S. senator in the nation, with a 63 percent approval rating. A [VPR-Vermont PBS] poll shows that Sanders has a nearly 40 point lead over Zupan.
In an interview after the debate Monday afternoon, Zupan said that through his candidacy, he is bringing ideas to the table which have been “absent from Vermont discourse for some time.”
“So I feel like I’m performing a public service win, lose or draw,” he said. “Though I’m going after winning.”
In addition to Zupan, Sanders is being challenged by seven independent or third party candidates. He debated all of his challengers Monday evening in a forum broadcast on Channel 17 and hosted by Paul Heintz of Seven Days, who has written about his frustrations in trying to interview Sanders.
In that debate, Sanders again defended his voting record, explained his continued support for the F-35 basing in Burlington and argued that his voting record on gun rights had not changed over the past three decades.
Asked what advice he would give to another candidate if they were elected senator, he said “Stay as close to the people as you can.”
