By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — The town’s younger citizens got the only local look this election season at the candidates for Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District at Tuesday forums in Staples High School.

Incumbent Democrat Jim Himes, in his seventh term, is challenged by Republican Jayme Stevenson, who served as Darien’s first selectwoman for 10 years.

The candidates met for a debate at Norwalk Community College a couple weeks ago.

Tuesday’s event was organized by the high school’s Your Vote Matters club, and moderated by its president, Spencer Yim. The candidates appeared separately and did not debate.

In his introduction, Himes talked about how the workplace, and education needs, have changed.

“Further education, not necessarily college, some form of further education, is now no longer optional,” Himes told the students. “The days of graduating high school and getting a good job — those days are gone.”

“I’m really excited to take on the question of how do we make sure that every young American has the chance to get the training and education they need to succeed.”

One question Yim read from a student asked if the $2 trillion in pandemic stimulus spending might have contributed to inflation.

Himes said maybe, but pointed out the world is dealing with inflation, and some European countries have higher rates than the U.S.

“We have a systemic thing going on here,” he said. “The world is recovering from COVID, where you couldn’t get parts into anywhere because they weren’t coming out of China, or whatever was going on.

“So, if you look around the world and see the inflation, it’s kind of hard to say that’s one party’s fault, or one individual’s fault,” Himes said.

Another question was about abortion, and if he’d support any limits.

He said he’s pro-choice, and respects the opinions on both sides of the issue.

“But because the decisions are so confusing, in a sense, so difficult, so challenging to the woman who is making those decisions, guys like me don’t get to be in the room when those decisions are made,” Himes said.

He noted that late-term abortions, which he called very rare and only needed to protect the life of the mother, are often framed by Republicans as something Democrats are in favor of.

Another student wanted to know what Himes viewed as the biggest national security threat.

Himes had a list, topped by instability in Russia.

He said the possibility of nuclear war, though small, can’t be ignored.

“I think it’s a very low probability, but it’s not zero,” he said. “And so that’s something we take very seriously.”

“The Chinese worry me from a national security standpoint,” he said. “Not because I think we’re going to get into a war with the Chinese, but because they are now technological competitors of ours, they’re as good as we are.”

“I worry that if we don’t keep our technological edge, we could wake up and experience what my parents experienced in 1957 when America looked up and saw a Soviet satellite called Sputnik go by, and Americans were like, ‘Oh my god, the Soviet Union is way ahead of us on technology.’ We can’t let that happen.”

“And we’re crazy if we don’t think of climate change as a national security threat,” Himes said.

Asked about gun rights, Himes said he supports the Second Amendment.

“But I do believe there are certain guns that belong in the hands of United States Marines when they’re storming a beach and not in the hands of a young person who could use that weapon to kill lots of people, as we see all too often,” he said.

Himes also was asked, given today’s political environment, if there’s something he respects about his opponent, Stevenson.

“Our democracy is at risk today, and I’m not just talking about Paul Pelosi [husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] being beaten by a guy with a hammer, I’m talking about the rhetoric that maybe leads to that,” Himes said, mentioning how people who have different views are called un-American, traitors and even “pedos,” short for pedophiles.

“To her great credit, Jayme Stevenson rejects that,” Himes said. “She rejects the election denialism, that Donald Trump is the legitimately elected president, and all of that garbage.”

“So, again, I hope I win, but I give her a ton of credit for standing up against her party, the majority of whom believe that Donald Trump is the legitimate president,” Himes said. “Jayme says no, that’s not true, and that takes some courage.”

During her forum, Stevenson said she was glad to be talking with the students.

“You are the future of America,” she said.

She said she and her husband raised five children in Darien, “and unfortunately, none of them live here in Connecticut anymore, because there’s little opportunity for them.”

“So, I’m hoping to bring some change to Washington, D.C., to be a moderate, common sense voice for children, for families, for small businesses and to really bring down the temperature in politics today,” Stevenson said.

“One thing that I see is that we are so divided as a nation, sometimes we’re divided as family,” she said. “And maybe even as friends, because of people’s political views. And we have to get ourselves back to a place where we can share our ideas, and to disagree respectfully.”

One of the questions from students was about inflation, and what she might do about it.

“I hear always about the high cost of living,” she said about visiting the 17 towns in Fairfield County that make up the 4th Congressional District.

Stevenson said that they recently had their oil tank filled.

“It was $500 more expensive than the same time last year,” she said.

“That’s unaffordable for many people, especially for our grandparents, people who are on fixed incomes,” she said. “People are making really tough choices about whether they fill up their oil tank all the way to help get them through the winter — and now we’re expecting restrictions on the amount of oil that the Northeast region is going to get — or put food on the table, as they’re beginning to think about the holiday season coming.”

Another student’s question was about securing the southern border, and illicit drugs getting through.

“No parent should have to worry about your child getting fentanyl instead of candy in your Halloween basket,” Stevenson said. “Rainbow fentanyl, you know that the drug cartels are targeting young people specifically with fentanyl in that form.”

“And fentanyl is coming through our very porous southern border and other places, other ports of entry in the United States. Our southern border is overrun, the DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration] and Border Patrol can’t do the jobs that they were hired to do, because they’re needing to manage the almost 5 million people that have come into this country over the last two years.”

“So I want to secure the border,” Stevenson said, “and no I’m not talking about building a wall, necessarily, there might be places where that’s an appropriate way to address the open border  …

“As your next congresswoman, I will be dedicated to helping to craft a sustainable, legal immigration policy,” she added.

Stevenson also was asked about abortion, and what limitations she might support.

“I have to say that I fell a little bit strange talking about this topic to kids like you that are my children’s age,” Stevenson said.

“I’m a strong believer in women’s rights,” she said. “As a Republican who believes in freedom and personal liberty, I have to believe in women’s rights.”

“I am of course pro-life because I have five beautiful children and I couldn’t imagine it any other way,” she said. “But I am pro-choice because I don’t believe that any woman should have her rights taken away from her. She deserves, you deserve, to make those important, very personal and complicated decisions, with the support of your family, and your doctor, and your faith community.”

But, she said, “there are guardrails.”

“The other side of the aisle supports abortion up to the moment of birth,” she said. “I don’t support that.”

When asked about gun control, Stevenson said she believes in common sense gun laws.

She noted that she has a pistol permit, and to obtain that, had to be fingerprinted and pass a background check. She said she was OK with that.

“I don’t believe that 18-year-olds necessarily should be able to walk into Wal-Mart and buy an AR-15,” Stevenson said.

She also was asked if there was one thing she respected about her opponent, Himes.

“He’s a father, he’s got a couple of kids, and I think what I respect most about him is that he was willing to step into the arena,” Stevenson said. “They say politics is a blood sport, and I’ll tell you it’s tough stuff. You have to try to get some thick skin — I don’t have it — but he stepped into the arena to try and make a difference for our country, which I really appreciate.”

The appearance by the two candidates was planned in advance of a mock election at Staples, set for Thursday.

Thane Grauel, executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond more than three decades. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.