Tomblin, Maloney stand their ground during debate - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports

After an hour of debate between Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and his Republican challenger Bill Maloney, there wasn't a whole lot of new ground to cover.

Long-time public relations executive Charles Ryan hosted the debate, guiding questions of economics, energy and the state budget, but for the two candidates who already faced off once last year, there wasn't a lot of new information that would sway a voter who hadn't already been watching the race.

The debate, which took place at the Clay Center in Charleston, allowed a minute and a half for each question and a 45-second response, but a few interactions stretched the boundaries of debate rules.

The first question was aimed at Tomblin, and it looked at the manufacturing sector.

Tomblin said the state is poised to move forward in a "very dramatic way."

Maloney fired back right out of the gate, telling Tomblin "you just don't get it."

"We've been poised for so long, how long are we supposed to hold that pose?" Maloney asked.

While Tomblin sang the praises of a community and technical college system and the potential of Marcellus Shale drilling, Maloney beat the drum of thousands of mining job losses in the past year.

But Tomblin did not shy away from debate.

"You want to blame me for every job loss for the past 40 years," Tomblin said. "I've only been governor for about 20 months now."

Ryan asked both candidates what they would say to a coal miner's family that's hurting right now. Tomblin said any lost job hurts the whole state, but the world economy will pick back up. Maloney said many of those workers have given up hope and don't see a future.

Tomblin said Maloney "always mentions the court system," as a problem in the state, but the judiciary will begin its business court initiative this week and soon will start giving written opinions on each case it hears. Tomblin said the court needs time to see how its own internal initiatives work.

Maloney brought up the recent announcement from Century Aluminum that it couldn't reopen its Ravenswood smelter under the power rate the Public Service Commission recently offered.

"This is just another in a long list of convoluted deals we've had to come up with to save our basic industries," Maloney said.

The two candidates, who stood during the hour-long debate, only seemed to see eye-to-eye on the possibility of linking higher education funding to performance outcomes. Both Tomblin and Maloney said that kind of initiative should be based on graduation rates rather than enrollment rates.

Maloney said every state department should have goals and metrics so the state could run like a business. Tomblin touted the success the state has seen in the past 10 years, such as the privatization of the workers' compensation system and plans to fund retirement systems.

When asked about jail crowding, Tomblin said he plans to heed the recommendations of the Council of State Government's Center for Justice, which improved similar problems in Texas and Tennessee. Maloney said an economy with more opportunity would make for fewer prisoners. He also suggested mentoring prisoners and faith-based initiatives.

Maloney said more cities and communities need more control over the ways they tax, but Tomblin said taxes shouldn't be eliminated without planned replacements.

Sparks flew when Ryan asked both candidates about broadband availability in the state. Tomblin said no later than Feb. 1, every county should have broadband ability in every home and described it as important to economic growth. Maloney seized the opportunity to bring up the federal stimulus dollars that went to broadband routers that were unused in several state offices.

Tomblin furrowed his brow as Maloney said the money had been wasted, then Tomblin responded the money had not been wasted.

"The important thing to remember is we need broadband, and it will be available," Tomblin said. Each candidate looked squarely at the other and nodded.

Tomblin said after the debate when asked what he would have liked to have explained more clearly or answered over again that discussing broadband availability for the entire state in just a minute was difficult.

Maloney said after the debate when Ryan asked what, specifically, he would try to privatize to save money that he wished he would have remembered to mention an agency that does home visits for the aging population in Belington that he recently visited.

"Nobody asked about ads," Maloney said after the debate. "We got asked a lot about ads last year."

Maloney said the six different editorial board meetings he and Tomblin recently attended was good preparation for the debate, which was hosted by the West Virginia Broadcasters Association and sponsored by AARP West Virginia. Both Tomblin and Maloney said they took time this week to prepare for the debate.

Tomblin pointed out after the debate that the types of budget suggestions Maloney has made just wouldn't work, but Maloney contends that communities need more local control and the state needs leadership.

Ryan asked about the Department of Health and Human Resources, a large agency that has come under fire for several issues in the past year.

Tomblin said the programs under DHHR are intertwined, and the agency is not too big, but when investigations into alleged wrongdoing are complete, he will take the appropriate actions.

During the debate, Maloney said the state has hired too many consultants, saying there have been consultants hired to answer other consultants.

"There's a lot of great folks at DHHR," Maloney said. "Let's just start listening to them."

Tomblin then asked Maloney if he wouldn't look for any expert advice if he were elected, but Ryan stepped in to nudge the candidates toward closing statements.

"This election should be about real facts … not just sound bites," Tomblin said. "This isn't Washington, D.C., this is West Virginia, and we do things a little differently here."

Tomblin said the state has paid down its long-term debts, continued to cut taxes and worked on problems with substance abuse, but there are still people in the state who are suffering. Tomblin said he wants to work to continue to improve the state's education system, attract jobs, look at infrastructure at all levels and keep young people within the state.

Tomblin looked into the camera while saying he would always put West Virginia first.

Maloney got the final word and said West Virginia has forgotten its identity.

"All we really need is leadership to really move our people forward," Maloney said. "He says we need to stay the course; I say we need to build a brighter future."

Both campaigns issued news releases immediately following the debate. The Maloney campaign's email claimed "Maloney dominates debate," while the Tomblin campaign email stated he "shows leadership in statewide debate."