Despite a lot of talk about bipartisanship and reaching across the political aisle, Republican and Democratic candidates for two District 29 House seats established they agree on pretty much nothing Wednesday night.
Whether it was the state's continued budget crisis, school vouchers or taxes, Democrats Daniel Patterson and Matt Heinz shared almost no common ground with Republicans Juan Ciscomani and Pat Kilburn.
Yet there was Patterson promising to "build relationships on both sides of aisle." Ciscomani and Kilburn made similar pledges. Heinz was less explicit.
To address the state budget, Ciscomani and Kilburn said although it is unfortunate, more cuts are needed.
"We need to reduce unnecessary spending. Anything that has nothing to do with public safety, infrastructure and education," Ciscomani said.
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Kilburn suggested cutting all state agencies by 10 percent and also freezing wages.
Meanwhile, Heinz noted there have already been plenty of cuts and said he thought it was time to look at raising taxes.
"One major area we need to look at is possibly repealing or suspending implementation of previously approved irresponsible tax cuts," he said, but never identified specific cuts.
Patterson said he could see cutting "programs that are complete wastes of money." He then cited getting rid of abstinence-only sex education and reducing the state's prison budget while pursuing alternative ways of rehabilitation.
"We have really lost focus on the idea of corrections," Patterson said. "This is over a billion dollars of our state budget every year."
Those ideas didn't sit well with Ciscomani or Kilburn.
Abstinence-only education is the only way to ensure teenagers don't get pregnant or transmit diseases, Ciscomani said.
"That's not one I would cut back on," he said.
Kilburn said he could support alternative programs for prisoners, but in the end, people who get arrested need to go to prison, he said.
And so the debate went.
When the idea of school vouchers came up, Ciscomani said he supported it because it gave parents school choice.
Heinz and Patterson blasted the idea as an assault on public education that would ultimately gut schools.
"It's not about the schools, it's about the students," Ciscomani said.
Kilburn said he would consider it as a possibility, but he didn't want to rush into it.
At times the answers were vague or seemed contradictory.
Asked how he would address the state budget, Patterson said he would do it by "fixing our broken economy and working to restore economic justice so we can reward hard work." He didn't elaborate on how.
And while Kilburn said he would like to cut state agencies by 10 percent to address the state's budget crisis, he also said he would like to see teachers get paid $90,000 to $100,000.
That caught Heinz's attention, inasmuch as teachers are one of the largest segments of the state work force.
"I am a little confused because we are talking about increasing teacher salaries to $100,000 and cutting 10 percent of the budget," he said.
Heinz often offered takes on issues different from the other three candidates'.
He was the only candidate to suggest suspending or repealing tax cuts to address the state's growing deficit.
And while the other candidates said the state needed to do more to attract businesses and diversify the economy, Heinz said he would like the state to do more to develop its own talent through vocational programs and increasing per-pupil spending on education.
About the only issue all four candidates agreed on was Proposition 105, which would amend the state constitution so any statewide citizen initiative raising taxes or imposing new spending requirements would need the approval of a majority of eligible voters, whether they go to the polls or not. Now, a simple majority of those who actually vote make the decision.
The question of the proposition came at the end of the 90 minute debate.
Heinz and Patterson called the proposition "very troubling" and a "disaster." Ciscomani and Kilburn said there needs to be some kind of oversight on initiatives, but Proposition 105 was the wrong way to go about it.
"I can't believe that all four of us may agree about something, but it would be nice," Kilburn said.
Well, bipartisanship has to start somewhere.
