GOP Senate candidates vying to unseat Warner debate in Amherst

David Williams and Kim Farington, who are vying for the Republican nomination in the Aug. 4 primary, spoke and fielded questions during the event. Bert Mizusawa, retired major general in the U.S. Army and an attorney, could not attend and was represented by Vance Wilkins, an Amherst County resident, longtime GOP organizer and a former Virginia Speaker of the House.

Williams, whose military career includes two deployments to Iraq, has served in the U.S. Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency as a case officer and is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. He said the national debt, which currently is at more than $39 trillion, is “unsurmountable” and Congress needs to cut “waste, fraud and abuse” in the federal government.

“That is a house of cards just waiting to fall,” Williams said of the debt. “We’re not talking about that enough.”

Farington, a certified public accountant, inventor, entrepreneur and public servant of 33 years, said she has observed fraud and inefficiencies in the federal government. She said she wants to take all the fraudulent money, give it back to taxpayers and put it toward the biggest line item in the federal government: interest in the national debt.

If elected, Farington said she will work to make federal programs accountable when they are not using taxpayers as they are supposed to. Lawmakers don’t know how to follow the money but sure know how to spend it, she said.

“It’s all about accountability, and we don’t have accountability right now,” Farington said. “Let me be Virginia’s CPA.”

Both Williams and Farington said they are firmly committed to President Donald Trump’s America-First agenda and spoke glowingly of his job performance a year and a half into his second term. Wilkins said so much fraud and abuse is in the federal government, a balanced budget amendment is needed and Republicans in Congress should not be afraid to do what must be done to save social security and other important things in government.

Candidates also weighed in on data centers, a hot-button topic across Virginia that has stirred opposition among many residents who don’t want them in their communities and was a major sticking point in the delayed state budget process this year.

Williams said he would make sure residents’ concerns are more heard in Richmond, especially on major concerns of water consumption and energy use, adding citizens’ bills shouldn’t go up in either area because of data centers. The country has to be competitive with China in artificial intelligence (AI), but data centers must be self-sustaining and not cost residents financially, he said.

Farington said data centers are needed to support AI from a national security standpoint, asking the audience to imagine if they could not use their cellphones. She said she doesn’t like how some companies are going about building data centers as large “monstrosities” that are not efficient.

She said micronuclear reactors should provide energy usage to them, so costs are passed on to Virginia residents. Wilkins said America must stay ahead of China and Russia, and data centers can be a benefit, especially for providing much-needed tax revenue to localities, but they must be designed properly.

Candidates also addressed what it takes to defeat Warner, a former Virginia governor who has served as senator since January 2009.

Farington said she is talking to Democrats and independents in efforts to sway more votes to the GOP, pointing out Warner narrowly kept his seat by less than 1% in the 2014 election. She feels he is vulnerable again this year. 

“We definitely can do it,” Farington said of ousting him. 

Wilkins voiced his view that Warner has a terrible voting record and emphasized that strong turnout is needed.  

“The only way we’re going to win is to build a ground game,” Wilkins said. “This has to be a grassroots effort.”

Williams said the Republican Party must be united to win and has to attract independent voters, adding Trump personally told him the GOP has “to make noise in Virginia." He stressed the importance of getting out the vote.

The candidates also spoke in strong support of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act -- also widely referred to as the SAVE America Act -- a federal legislative proposal that require people to provide documentary proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, to register to vote in federal elections.

“The reason why America is so strong is because of voter integrity,” Williams said.

He said during his military career he has seen the damage the lack of voter integrity has done in other countries and “hopefully, prayerfully” Trump can lead the SAVE Act to passage.

“I would definitely vote for it,” Farington said. “I am all about data integrity. It keeps our programs honest. We’ve got to have integrity.”

She said Trump and Congress must find a way to make it happen “so we can unseat Warner fairly and honestly.”

On the war with Iran, Williams said anyone who espouses “Death to America” cannot have a nuclear weapon and Trump did what he had to and criticized those in Congress who complained and fought against the president.

Farington said she believes Trump did the right thing and Iran has threatened America for decades.

“How much longer are we going to put up with it?” Farington said.

She said she is disappointed gas prices are coming down, which she feels is inefficiency unfair to taxpayers.

“There are companies taking advantage of us and the situation and I don’t think that’s right,” Farington said.

Wilkins said he believes the midterms will come down to the price of gas and Trump took a political risk with military action against Iran because he knew it was best for the country.

The candidates also addressed the Senate filibuster, term limits and Muslim Democrats “running as socialists.”

“It scares me,” Farington said of the latter. “It is very detrimental to the country that it is happening.”

Williams said immigrants have come to America on the expectation of “free stuff,” some people get excited about a wave social democracy and when Democrats are elected, they start “creeping in the socialist agenda.” The Democratic Party is moving much further to the left and Warner is having to as well, or he would gotten primaried and his seat would be up for grabs also on Aug. 4, Williams said.

He stressed again the Republicans need independents to maintain GOP control of Congress “because it’s getting so crazy,” a reference to laws and stances Democrats have taken on the Second Amendment and other issues. On term limits, Williams said candidates get elected to Congress, “get in their ivory towers and lose perspective,” explaining a major reason he is running is because he was sick and tired of feeling like his views aren’t heard.

Farington said if elected she already has pledged to serve only two terms. 

Wilkins said the GOP has three good candidates, but he feels Mizusawa has the best chance to pull off the upset on Warner.

“There is no second place in politics,” he said.