“We need to defend the people who are actually standing up and taking care of all these kids who have been orphaned by this problem,” he said. A long-time gap exists in Ohio between state payments to nonlicensed relatives who take custody of children and to licensed foster care parents, who typically receive much higher amounts.
Timken, the only woman in the field, spoke often from the perspective of a mother, including during a discussion of accommodating transgender students in school restrooms and sports. “I’m a mom, not a ‘birthing person,’” she said.
She also touted her ties to Trump, who has not endorsed in the race. “I am the only true America First, grassroots candidate in this race that can win this primary, unite the party and take on the radical left’s agenda,” she said.
Gibbons said he would bring a businessman’s acumen to Washington, while pledging he would not run for reelection if elected. To the question of his small campaign warchest, Gibbons said he would be able to get the money he needed.
“I’ll raise as much money as I need,” he said. “If I can’t raise it, I’ll put it in. I believe you put your money where your mouth is.” He said he also has donated to 73 individual school board candidates this year, as conservative candidates seek to take over boards across the nation.
At the end of the forum, sponsored by the Center for Christian Virtue’s American Leadership Forum, moderator Hugh Hewitt, a conservative radio host and author, tried to extract a promise from the candidates that they would refuse to participate in any debate against Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, should he win his party’s primary, in which media outlets or reporters he dubbed liberal were sponsors or panelists.
“Had my friends in the legacy media been here, you would have been asked about Jan. 6., and then Jan. 6 again… which was terrible,” Hewitt said, to laughter from the crowd. “But then you would have been asked about Donald Trump’s role in the events of Jan. 6.” No questions on either subject were asked Sunday.
Most candidates avoided direct answers to the debate question —with Mandel saying he had “no desire to have a bunch of liberals moderating” any debate against Ryan, and Vance saying he would demand fair moderators but wants to take on Ryan for insulting his book.
Both Gibbons and Moreno said they did not fear taking Ryan on in whatever setting.
“I’ve been dreaming of debating Tim Ryan pretty much my whole adult life,” Gibbons said.
“In terms of a debate with liberal journalists, let’s go,” Moreno said. “You know what, because we’re going to be down in D.C. You think it’s going to be like being in Columbus, where we have a supermajority? We’re going to have to go against Bernie Sanders and AOC and those crazy left loonies.”
A Republican Senate seventh candidate, tech executive Mark Pukita, is fighting the event’s sponsors over being excluded.
This article originally appeared here.
