U.S. House debates: Rep. Buddy Carter, Wade Herring to argue over Trump, abortion

Since Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. House Rep. Buddy Carter has had a challenger in Savannah lawyer Wade Herring. With Election Day now just a few weeks away, the two will finally meet face to face this week in a pair of televised debates.

Herring, the political newcomer who says he was inspired to run after Carter’s vote to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, comes into the race untested. He’s never held political office before, but he’s managed to draw plenty of folks to his side, raising $1.2 million in his first political campaign — with most of that cash, $1.18 million, coming from individual donors.

Carter, meanwhile, has held his congressional seat since 2014 and has served as an elected position at either the local, state or federal level since 1994 — 28 consecutive years of politics. Last week, in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Carter said he would be vying for the coveted House Budget Committee Chair position.

The Tuesday afternoon debate will be hosted by the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting. Panelists include two Savannah-based journalists in Margaret Coker from The Current and Will Peebles from Savannah Morning News. The debate will be moderated by Veronica Waters from WSB Radio.

The debate will be streaming on GPB’s website starting at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.

The two will meet again on Wednesday in a debate in Savannah at the WTOC-TV studio.

Watch Carter and Herring Debate: Georgia Public Broadcasting and Atlanta Press Club

Atlanta Press Club debates are divided into three rounds. In the first round, each candidate will field questions from the panelists. In the second round, Carter and Herring will ask two questions of each other. In the third round, panelists will ask the candidates questions until time runs out.

Candidates will not get the opportunity for opening statements but will get 60 seconds for a closing.

Here are a few topics expected to be discussed at the debate.

The Current's Craig Nelson: Buddy Carter, Wade Herring brandish ambition, street cred for seat in Congress

The Current's Craig Nelson: Herring preps for battle with Rep. Carter. Will Black voters back him?

Also: Q&A: First District candidate Wade Herring recalls Jan. 6, the day he decided to run for office

And: Inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6: Rep. Buddy Carter shares memories from attack on government

Carter’s Trump loyalties

Carter’s refusal to vote for President Joe Biden’s confirmation gained him an opponent, but based on campaign emails where he calls himself a “Trump Surrogate,” he’s hoping it’ll gain him a few supporters too.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, some counties in Georgia saw a divide in their Republican parties: squabbles between longstanding party members and the more vocal, more Trump-embracing newcomers.

Asked in January whether he expects that divide to cause strife within the party, Carter was dismissive of the idea, noting there’s only one GOP.

Still, Carter is waving his Trump endorsement like a banner, albeit while still quietly criticizing the former president for his tone. Carter is not a member of the Freedom Caucus, made up of self-described far-right congressional members, most of whom support Trump.

“I love President Trump's policies. You've heard me say it before, I believe he's right on policy; wrong on tone," Carter told SMN last month. "I loved his policies, and I continue to love them. I think he was spot on. We had the economy humming. We had things going in this country.”

Read more: Coastal Georgia U.S. House race: Is Herring a centrist? Is Carter a 'Trump surrogate?'

Herring on codifying abortion rights

The sitting president's political party is typically considered to be at a disadvantage in midterm elections, at least historically. But this summer, when the U.S. Supreme Court voted to delegate abortion lawmaking to the states, Democratic voters rallied around the issue.

Herring hopes to present himself as a response to that disgruntlement. In previous interviews with SMN, he has said, if elected, he will work to codify a woman’s right to abortion services. But under current U.S. Senate rules, passage of such legislation would require 60 votes. With only 50 Democrats in the chamber and few, if any, Republicans willing to cross party lines for the vote, federal legislation on abortion is impossible.

And: Wade Herring says he's challenging Buddy Carter to 'do something' about local issues

Read more: U.S. House Rep. Buddy Carter says Roe v. Wade was 'civil rights issue of our generation'

After the leaked draft opinion of the Supreme Court ruling, Senate Democrats tried to pass a bill that would codify abortion rights, but it ultimately didn’t reach the 60 vote threshold required.

Meaning, if elected to Congress, Herring would be another voice saying the same thing all the other Democrats are saying. He’s banking on that being a more attractive option to leftists and centrists than Carter’s anti-abortion stance.

"Some women are going to be able to afford to travel to a state where the laws are more representative of a woman's right to choose, but other women aren't going to be able to do that. And so what we have now is, again, it's chaos and confusion, and it's unfair, it's just fundamentally unfair. And so we need a national bill, that that codifies a woman's right to choose," Herring said.

Will Peebles is the City Council and County Commission reporter for Savannah Morning News, covering local Savannah and Chatham County decisions. He can be reached at wpeebles@savannahnow.com or on Twitter @willpeeblesSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Buddy Carter, Wade Herring to clash in U.S. House District 1 debates