WVIA | By Roger DuPuis | WVIA News, Lydia McFarlane | WVIA News

From the stage to the seats to the hallways, civility prevailed Thursday night as an overflow crowd of spectators and journalists filled WVIA’s Jenkins Twp. studios for the 8th District congressional debate between Rep. Rob Bresnahan and Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti.

The Republican incumbent and his Democratic challenger mostly respected time limits, didn’t talk over each other and largely refrained from personal attacks.

Not even in their opening statements.

If there were any surprises on the night, it was hearing each candidate disavowing certain policies pursued by their own parties.

“The Biden administration failed at the border,” Cognetti said of the previous Democratic presidency’s approach to tackling illegal immigration.

Bresnahan, meanwhile, was critical of the ongoing war in the Middle East and the Trump administration’s recent thaw toward Russia, including the purchase of diesel fuel, reiterating his belief that the U.S. should support Ukraine in its defensive war with Russia.

“Empowering Putin with energy prices and energy sources isn’t a smart way to go about doing it,” said Bresnahan, who also said the war in Iran “absolutely needs to end.”

Discussion of data centers, crime and cuts to federal social programs revealed the biggest gaps between the candidates — although on data centers they agreed some projects, like one set for Salem Twp. in Luzerne County, may make sense.

But as first-term Rep. Bresnahan defended his record and Cognetti presented her case to succeed him, the differences in their worldview emerged, albeit in a restrained way with little siginificant sparring.

Veteran broadcaster Tracey Matisak served as producer and moderator, joined by a panel of journalists: WVIA News reporter Borys Krawczeniuk, Citizens’ Voice reporter Michael Buffer and Francine Schertzer, senior vice president for politics and policy at Pennsylvania Cable Network.

Opening statements

Bresnahan defended his record as a Congressman, saying he brought home $110 million for hospitals, education, drug prevention programs and infrastructure.

“Every single time I walk into the House chamber, I think about the nearly 800,000 people that have entrusted me to represent [them] in Washington D.C.,” Bresnahan said.

“I don’t think about the political party. I think about how can I advocate for my home that has given my family an opportunity for the last five generations.”

“Over the last two years, we have done over 1,000 in-district events for Northeastern Pennsylvania, and over 4,000 constituency service requests have been satisfied by our office,” Bresnahan said.

Cognetti spoke of her record as mayor, rooting out corruption, improving the city’s finances, investing in the police department and cutting red tape to help spur new housing development.

Cognetti also said she’d work to make life more affordable for Americans while taking on corruption, including a ban on congressional stock trading and corporate PAC money.

“The agenda is run by special interests, by corporations, by billionaires. They’re the ones calling the shots. They’re why our utility costs are so high, our pharmaceutical costs are so high. Our health insurance is out of reach for so many and only getting worse,” she said. “Until we get the corruption out of the way, we can’t solve our problems.”

Social Security

Krawczeniuk asked what the candidates would do to head off potential cuts to Social Security benefits expected by the early 2030s if the Social Security trust fund runs out of reserves as has been forecast.

“I think you can look at waste inside of the system, but that’s never going to be enough in order to substantiate it. Getting real dollars back into paychecks and getting people working with opportunities and family-sustaining careers is probably the easiest way to create a pro-economic development environment. So there’s actually funding sources going into it,” Bresnahan responded.

He said the lawmakers can’t “cut your way out of a $40 trillion deficit.”

“What you need to do is be able to create economic growth, enhance GDP and create economic opportunities, so actually people are entering the workforce,” Bresnahan said. “And if you look at the actual statistics of who is entering the workforce and who is expelling from the workforce? There’s the inflows aren’t keeping up with the outflows.”

Cognetti pinned some of the problem on Bresnahan and his fellow Republicans.

“That trust fund runs out one year sooner now because of the Big Beautiful Bill that Congressman Bresnahan voted for,” she said.

“Economic development is great, and making sure people have the wages that they deserve is wonderful. We absolutely need this. We can keep growing as much as we can, but it’s not going to be enough,” Cognetti said.

“We need to make sure that we are doing the things that are necessary, and that’s going to take working across the aisle,” Cognetti said. “We can’t just wait until the last minute, and that’s what I fear could happen if we continue to play politics in this way.”

“The Big Beautiful Bill also added $4 trillion to the deficit,” Cognetti added. “We’re giving tax breaks to the ultra wealthy and to corporations, and we’re kicking the can down the road. Not just with Social Security, but we’re putting a tax on my kids and even their kids.”

Iran war

Schertzer asked the candidates what needs to happen to justify ending the war? And would they support sending troops on the ground?

Cognetti said the Iranian regime is “evil,” has killed tens of thousands of its own citizens each year and should be prevented from developing a nuclear weapon.

“They have not given the American people proof that we are there for the right reasons, and they have not given us proof that that nuclear program has been dismantled,” she said of the Trump administration.

“We need real diplomacy, and we need to make sure that we are treating our American service members with respect,” she said, as well as being concerned about “munitions depletion.”

Bresnahan said he “will not support boots on the ground in Iran, and I agree that this war absolutely needs to end.”

“But two things can be true at the same time: people that chant ‘death to America,’ they are not diplomatic allies to the United States,” he said.

He said the war “has gone on far too long,” but “my concern would be ripping out the rug from underneath our service members that are serving overseas.”

Bresnahan also suggested the war’s impact on fuel prices is “a perfect reason why we need to domestically produce and refine natural gas and energy right here in the United States.”

Data centers

Schertzer asked the candidates if they support data center development, and what role should the federal government have in regulating them.

“We need to make sure that if data centers do go through — and there are some in Pennsylvania that can work … the table has to be set properly,” Cognetti said.

That includes no non-disclosure agreements, use of local labor, and host communities’ right to say no.

“We need to make sure at the federal, state and local level that we are helping folks on the ground, helping those municipalities fight back,” Cognetti said. “We also need to regulate AI. This current administration and Congress have no desire to regulate AI. We have need a federal monitor.”

Bresnahan said “under no circumstances should Washington D.C. be telling anyone what they’re forced to live next to or coexist with.”

“I actually was the first member of Congress to actually write a bill. … because the best decision and the only decision needs to go back to the local community,” he said. “They need to figure out what’s best for their friends, their families and their neighbors, and what’s going to be in their backyard.”

He also called for local benefits and harm mitigation and use of local construction.

“If they’re going to get built in Northeastern Pennsylvania, they better be built by Northeastern Pennsylvania,” Bresnahan said.

In a jab at Cognetti, Bresnahan also said “there has been a data center ordinance inside of Scranton City Council now for over eight months that has yet to be acted on.”

She fired back.

“The bill that the congressman refers to hasn’t even gotten out of committee, [it’s] something that he has done to paper over his celebration and invitation of data centers to Northeastern Pennsylvania,” she said.

“For our part in Scranton, just on Tuesday night, our administration addressed council with our experts that we’re working with to defend our city from data centers,” Cognetti said.

Immigration

Buffer asked the candidates about immigration.

“An estimated 10 to 11 million unauthorized immigrants currently reside in the United States, with many having lived here for over a decade,” he said.

“Many work in vital sectors like agriculture and construction and pay taxes. ICE in the Trump administration has come under fire for its deportation tactics. How should the federal government address this population?”

Bresnahan began his response by acknowledging the importance of immigrants to the region’s workforce.

“It is certainly something, especially within sight of the Pocono Mountains, where we see millions and millions of annual visitors a year, and that workforce depends on foreign labor,” he said.

Bresnahan also said he has a philosophy of “a big fence with a wide gate,” for immigration, adding that his office has helped immigrants find paths to citizenship and paths to work visas.

“But illegal aliens that are killing our people, that are running down the street with a CDL [commercial drivers’ license] and killing our police officers and committing crimes and dealing drugs. Yeah, I have a problem with that, and they should be deported,” Bresnahan said.

“Under no circumstances should violent criminal illegal aliens remain in the United States.”

Cognetti acknowledged frustration with the system.

“I sat in rooms with other mayors from across the country during that time and listened to them pleading with the Biden administration for more help,” she said. “They were overrun with illegal immigrants that they could not house when they were legally bound to. That experience really helped me understand why our border needs to be secure.”

She called for “comprehensive immigration reform.”

“We need to have pathways to citizenships for people who are paying into the system and working to make our communities better. We need to make sure that what we’re doing is not alienating people and making people feel less safe. Our law enforcement at every single level works very, very hard to keep violent criminals off the streets,” she said.

“It’s important that we keep a secure border. It’s important that we work together with anyone in Congress to make sure we have comprehensive reform and not be afraid of that, and make sure that we keep our communities safe,” Cognetti said.

It was another moment where the candidates sparred, with Bresnahan saying Cognetti previously has “bragged that Scranton did not cooperate with ICE,” and “there wasn’t enough being done to open up illegal immigration.”

She brought the discussion back to one of Bresnahan’s own points: The need for a strong economy.

“The Biden administration did fail. We need to make sure that the border is secure. … We do need to make sure that the pathways to citizenship are there,” Cognetti said.

“We talk about adding to our economy. We talk about adding to Social Security. We can’t do it if we don’t get through these hard decisions and get through the hard legislating that needs to happen,” Cognetti said, adding: “We need to make sure that the partisanship is not in the way.”