Two Senate candidates call out opponents for not attending forum

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - With the midterm elections right around the corner, two of the four candidates running for U.S. Senate spoke at the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday, Oct. 24.

That’s Gary Chambers and Syrita Steib, both are Democrats. Voters had a chance to get an idea of where both Chambers and Steib stand when it comes to some of the most important issues on the minds of many of you today. Both of them wasted no time taking advantage of calling out Sen. John Kennedy (R) and Luke Mixon (D) out for not attending.

“We have to send John Kennedy home, he does not have the best interest of Louisiana at the forefront,” said Steib.

“And at the bare minimum, you should send him to a runoff so he can answer some damn questions,” added Gary Chambers.

In perhaps one of their final attempts to change some of your minds before heading to the polls, Steib and Chambers expressed their disappointment in the other two candidates for not attending today’s forum.

“As for Luke Mixon, I am actually surprised that he lives here in Baton Rouge, and he did not take the time out of his schedule to make sure that he’s here,” Stieb continued.

Although both come from the same side of the political aisle, Chambers believes he is the only one who can ignite the flame in the party’s base.

“You cannot win a statewide election as a Democrat if you cannot turn out the base of the party. We believe we’re the most equipped to be able to turn out the base of the party. That’s the difference maker between us and everybody else,” Chambers explained.

After being incarcerated at 19-years old and receiving a full presidential pardon, Syrita Steib believes her record for advocacy criminal justice reform is what sets her apart.

“My federal legislative work allowed me an opportunity to work under the last administration on the first step act which resulted in me receiving a full presidential pardon on Donald Trump’s last day in office,” said Steib.

On the topic of inflation, both candidates point the blame at Sen. Kennedy, who voted against the Inflation Reduction Act on top of Republican policies here at home.

“We live in the 50th ranked state and the majority of our state elected officials are republicans. So how many republican policies are helping the economy,” said Chambers.

Both shared positions those on the right may consider to be extreme. Like expanding the Supreme Court, eliminating the filibuster, and abortion.

“I will always be reproductive rights because I do think that this overturning of Roe v. Wade is the tip of the iceberg,” Steib added.

“If you’re pro-life, then there’s a whole list of things that we should deal with as a society. We don’t get to just check it off on one box,” Chambers explained.

We reached out to both Senator Kennedy and Luke Mixon’s campaign for comment. Sen. Kennedy’s team said he spent the day in Bastrop with the community and press as well as a roundtable with local officials. We did not hear back from Mixon’s team.

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