St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute's political debate is a tradition going back more than 40 years.
That standard continued Tuesday with appearances by State Assembly incumbent Pat Burke and West Seneca Supervisor Gary Dickson, who are running for the 142nd State Assembly District.
"He thinks he's the greatest town supervisor that's ever been in West Seneca," Burke said. "Republican supervisor, Republican board. Guess what? You go to Albany, he gets nothing done."
Meanwhile, Dickson called out Burke for being a "career politician."
"My opponent is trying to run like he's the challenger. He's not the challenger," Dickson said. "He's been in office for almost eight years. He has voted for every pro-criminal, anti-law enforcement bill."
Their debate topics included safety from school shooters, population trends and ICE presence in Buffalo.
The debate’s heated nature had students noticeably more engaged this year than in some previous years, St. Joe’s senior Nathan Reimann said.
“When I was younger, I would only I only thought politics were president. But now, as I'm getting older, I'm realizing there are a lot more, and my vote matters," he said. "Especially since, at the younger ages, there's a lower voter turnout for people (between) 24 and 18.”
The debate is something Burke has enjoyed for many years and he says it helps satisfy his political science background.
“As the incumbent ... you don't have to debate, people presume you're up, people presume you're going to win," he said. "I want to debate. I enjoy talking about the issues. I think it's something we're supposed to do, and so we should do more of it.”
Dickson says debates provide an important dynamic, but he would prefer a more interactive setting.
“It's for the school and they have a limited time. I think it went really well," he said. "But, like I told the teacher, I would love to sit down with their class and, you know, we could sit, we could talk for an hour, and we could have an interactive give-and-take.”
Many of the questions were prepared directly by St. Joe's upperclassmen. Both candidates impressed with the quality of their answers, senior Lennox Yazbeck said.
"For all Western New Yorkers, I think this is one of the most important events that goes on politically," he said. "Everybody here, this is the only debate we have for this seat."
Election day is November 3, though early voting is already underway.
