Published October 8, 2026 at 5:01 PM EDT

Congresswoman Becca Balint, the Democratic incumbent, debated Republican challenger Gerald Malloy and independent Adam Ortiz in a Vermont Public debate on Thursday that ranged from affordability to immigration and the war in Iran.

Moderator Mikaela Lefrak opened the debate by asking how the candidates would address affordability if elected to Congress.

Balint said she was working to end the war in Iran, which she blamed for higher prices at the gas pump, and said President Donald Trump’s tariffs are hampering small business owners in the state.

She reiterated Democrats’ argument that the Big Beautiful Bill Act was a net loss for working people, but acknowledged that some components benefit Vermonters — namely a $6,000 tax deduction for seniors.

“The support for seniors, the no tax on tips, the no tax on overtime — absolutely,” she said. “The problem is that the bulk of that bill was directed at folks at the very top.”

Malloy said he would leverage his relationships as a congressman to recruit businesses to Vermont and create more career opportunities for young people.

“We need to stop the bleeding, frankly, of young people leaving because there’s no career path jobs here in Vermont — well, there’s very little,” Malloy said. “And what’s left is leaving quickly because of all the burdens that have been placed on small businesses.”

Malloy, who is a U.S. Army veteran, also criticized the war in Iran and said he supports a peace agreement, but only if it includes a provision that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. He did not say whether he would vote in favor of a war powers resolution to restrict Trump’s power to continue operations in Iran, as Balint has.

“This was an illegal war. This was an unwarranted war,” Balint said, adding the Trump administration had ample warning that the war would cause oil markets to spike.

When asked about how he’d lower healthcare costs for Vermonters, Malloy said he supports making drug prices more transparent and reducing patent timelines to get generic drugs out faster. He does not support universal Medicare.

In contrast, Balint said, “I’m a ‘Medicare for All’ person. The time has come for us to finally have a single-payer system nationally that is similar to Medicare.”

She said she supports allowing the federal government to negotiate drug prices and supports restricting the influence of middlemen like pharmacy benefit managers.

The candidates also differed in their views on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, though all of them took issue with the sometimes violent tactics officers have employed.

Balint reiterated her commitment to dismantling the agency, saying immigration enforcement should be housed within the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and calling ICE a paramilitary force that is acting unconstitutionally.

Malloy said he does not support abolishing ICE, and said he supports deporting people who have committed crimes. But he said, “I don’t think that the government should be trying to track down every single person who is not fully documented here in the United States — every hotel maid, every farmworker.”

All three candidates said they would focus on repairing the relationship between Canada and Vermont. Malloy said he does not support tariffs on Canadian goods.

Ortiz used the debate to elevate a broad swath of policy proposals, including access to mental healthcare and support for women veterans. He said Vermont should focus on becoming a tourism destination for physical therapy and mental healthcare, in part by rebuilding Vermont’s ghost towns, and concluded by saying, “Mr. President, you’re right about everything you ever said in the exact same way you said it.”

Election Day is Nov. 3.