In just one week, New Jersey votes to send one U.S. senator and 12 U.S. representatives to Washington. Not all the races are hotly contested. The race to replace Congressman Jon Runyan in the Third Congressional District is. The candidates are sharply divided over health care, tax reform, equal pay and women’s rights. It’s a race Monmouth University’s pollster has called the nastiest this year. Republican candidate Tom MacArthur told NJTV News Anchor Mary Alice Williams that the main issue in the CD3 race is the economy.
“I think it’s the economy. The economy is the foundation for so many other issues that face us both here and abroad and our economy is stuck in a jobless recovery and I think the number one issue is stimulating the job market,” said MacArthur.
He said that the economy has been a main focus of his campaign and that he has embarked on a two-month tour around the district. Throughout that tour, he says he has gotten an understanding of what the issues are and that he has prepared a jobs plan as a result.
MacArthur has talked about lowering taxes for small businesses and start-up businesses. According to MacArthur, he wants to make taxes generally flatter and he would rather see money go toward the middle class and business owners than to government bureaucrats.
As for the Affordable Care Act, MacArthur says that he wants to replace it rather than repeal it. With a replacement, he says that there will be better outcomes and better quality of care at lower costs and more choices.
MacArthur said that he supports the aspect of the Affordable Care Act that allows families to cover their children until the age of 26 on their health plans. His son has been a beneficiary of that policy.
“I do support that and I support coverage for existing conditions but to pay for that, I think we need free market reforms like real tort reform to change the way medicine is practiced and the cost of health care,” said MacArthur. “I think selling insurance across state lines is very important to increase competition, allowing small employers to pool, to get the benefit of larger group discounts and as I’ve said I think a safety net is an essential. I at one point in my life faced over a million dollars of health care costs related to my daughter and that was 20 years ago and had that happened now, I don’t know how many millions but I don’t think anyone should face that on their own. I think we can have a safety net at the state level.”
Recently MacArthur’s opponent, Aimee Belgard, said that it was appalling that MacArthur did not support legislation for equal pay. MacArthur said that he did not say that.
“I have said repeatedly that there’s only one of us in this race that has practiced equal pay and that’s me and I’ve done it for decades,” MacArthur said. “I will work with members of both parties to ensure real fairness in the workplace. It’s good for the economy, it’s certainly fair for families. It’s only my opponent that has tried to say this over and over. I have not said it. I will work with both parties to ensure real equal pay that benefits women, not just trial lawyers like my opponent.”
Related: CD3 Candidate Belgard: Middle Class is Most Significant Issue