Pallone, Kiley at odds in NJ 6th District race over abortion, gas prices, student debt

New Jersey's 6th Congressional District race pits two Monmouth County natives against each other.

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., a lawyer, and a native of Long Branch who will turn 70 on Oct. 30, has held the seat for the Democrats since 1988. He is chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the oldest standing committees in the House.

He is outpacing his Republican opponent Susan Kiley, the current deputy commissioner of the Monmouth County Board of Commissioners by roughly $2.4 million in campaign funds. Pallone has raised $2.8 million to Kiley's $351,000, according to the most recent federal campaign filings.

Kiley, 68, lives in Hazlet and first entered public service after Superstorm Sandy devastated the Bayshore. She was elected to the Hazlet Township Committee and served as mayor for one year before becoming a county commissioner in 2018. In the private sector, Kiley was an emergency room nurse and worked in surgical equipment sales.

The 6th District hugs along the shoreline, starting in the south in Bradley Beach in Monmouth County, heading north along the oceanfront and Bayshore, and then winds into Middlesex County, where it stretches as far north as Carteret and Piscataway. While it includes some heavily Republican bastions along the Monmouth County shore, it also includes several Democratic strongholds in the county, such as Neptune, Asbury Park, Long Branch and Red Bank, as well as multiple Middlesex County towns.

According to the Cook Political Report, the 6th District has a Partisan Voting index of D+8, which means that in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, the district performed about eight percentage points more Democratic in terms of two-party vote share than the nation did as a whole. That's two percentage points more Democratic than the previous version of the district, which was redrawn slightly after the most recent census.

The candidates share some common ground on beach replenishment. Pallone has been a major advocate for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' beach fill projects at the Jersey Shore. Kiley said if elected she would continue the replenishments, perhaps even calling for more sand. Both also said they would continue to seek federal funds for local projects in the district.

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In separate interviews with the Asbury Park Press, the candidates tackled social issues such as abortion and student loan forgiveness, as well as the economy.

Abortion

After the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the landmark case Roe v. Wade declaring that a constitutional right to abortion, upheld since 1973, no longer exists, pushing the matter to the state level, Pallone's committee produced the Women's Health Care Act, which died in the Senate. His committee then produced legislation called the Ensuring Women's Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, which has passed the House and now sits in the Senate. The act would ensure the right of a person to cross state lines to get an abortion in states where the procedure is legal.

"I'm pro-choice," Pallone said, adding that overturning Roe V. Wade "severely limited women's ability to manage their own health care. It eliminated, in my opinion, a constitutional right of privacy."

Pallone said if Republicans get control of the House in the midterm elections, they will try to push a federal law on abortions, referring to a bill introduced in September by U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., that would make abortions illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Kiley said she is pro-life with exceptions.

"There is no rule that is solid for everyone. We all know that. I would like as much as possible for women who get pregnant to have their babies. I believe in supporting people through their pregnancies, giving them the resources they need. But, if a mother is in danger of serious health problems, abortion might be the right option for her. If someone has been raped, or has been a victim of child molestation, they may be the right candidate for an abortion. Some of those cases might want to continue to term and give those children up for adoption, others may want an abortion immediately. Either way, I completely understand their decisions," Kiley said.

Student debt

Kiley does not approve of President Joe Biden's move to forgive some student debt and stands with many Republicans who are challenging the legality of the president's decision to do so without Congressional approval. It was recently temporarily blocked by a federal appeals court. She said schools should pick up the burden before taxpayers.

"First of all, they're (loans) not being canceled. The taxpayer is going to end up paying for them. And if anyone should cancel student loan debt, it should be the colleges that are charging outrageous prices," Kiley said. "Tuition goes up consistently and I don't see our kids getting any additional education with the fees they're charging. There needs to be some reform in the way colleges are charging these students."

According to a report in Forbes, about 92% of all outstanding student loans is federal debt. The federal student loan portfolio currently totals more than $1.6 trillion, owed by about 43 million borrowers.

"I support what the president has done. He's opened the portal (to apply for debt relief) and we've been encouraging people to apply for up to $10,000, or $20,000 if you meet the income requirements," Pallone said. "Everything I do at the federal level is to make things more affordable. One of the biggest problems is paying for higher education. The Republican opposition to that means either they're out of touch and don't understand or they don't want to help anybody. It's unfathomable that they're suing to stop this debt reduction."

Gender curriculum

Gender education in public grade schools has become a polarizing issue. While the federal government doesn't set curriculum, its oversight in public education has increased since the 1960s and it can offer states funding for education programs on a conditional basis.

Republican lawmakers, however, have begun to draw a line on funding gender education in elementary schools. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis passed a state law in March prohibiting federal funds for gender education in pre-kindergarten through third grade. U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., introduced a more strict version of that law into the House recently which would prohibit the funds for gender curriculum for school-age kids up to age 10.

Pallone said Republicans are spreading a lot of "misinformation" about the curriculum while using it as an opportunity to "attack the LGBTQ community."

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Kiley, for her part, doesn't think that curriculum belongs at the grade school level.

"I don't believe anything related to sexual education in the grammar school is appropriate for a teacher to teach a child. Those are things that their parents should be teaching them at a time when their parents think they're ready to hear it," Kiley said.

Economy

High gasoline prices at the pump and at the grocery market, along with the supply chain are key issues with voters.

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Both candidates said getting gas prices down are essential to helping American consumers.

Kiley does not agree with Biden's decision to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in order to increase the supply of oil to the domestic market. She said the country should be doing more to become energy independent, such as increasing domestic production of oil.

"Those reserves are supposed to be held for times of crisis or war, so why are we depleting them? It's a very bad idea," Kiley.

Pallone said he supported Biden's use of the SPR. However, he also has introduced a bill called Buy Low and Sell High, which would establish a subset of the SPR called the Economic Petroleum Reserve. These new strategic gasoline and diesel reserves would be placed in every region of the United States, ensuring oil can be deployed immediately during emergencies.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ election 6th District Congressional race pits Pallone against Kiley