Bill Pascrell’s former Ninth Congressional district is not considered competitive, given the fact Dems outnumber Republicans by almost 100,000 voters.

Don’t tell that to Republican Billy Prempeh, an Air Force veteran making his third try for Congress. Prempeh says his message is resonating and points to the fact that two years ago, he got about 44 percent of the vote against the venerable Pascrell.

Prempeh was all set to run against Pascrell for a third time, but the congressman fell ill this past summer and died in late August.

Democrats replaced him on the ballot with state Senator Nellie Pou in a mostly urban district centering on Paterson and its neighboring towns, parts of south Bergen County and a small slice of Hudson County.

And as the candidates debated Wednesday night, Pou’s ascension drew Prempeh’s immediate attention.

He said Pou was simply a creation of Democratic leaders and described her opening statement as a “canned” speech written by someone else.

Continuing, Prempeh said Pou represents not the people, but the party that anointed her as a candidate following Pascrell’s death.

Pou came back with this:

“I don’t need to be lectured on the sanctity of democracy from a man who was in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.”

Prempeh said he was in D.C. that day, but that he did not riot or enter the Capitol.

“I went to hear the president speak,” he said, adding that he considers Donald Trump a “great” president.

Later, this prompted a question about the 2020 election.

Prempeh, at first, called that a “loaded question.” Then, he said there was a “strong possibility” that the election was not conducted fairly

Pou said simply that Trump lost and that Prempeh and other Trump backers simply can’t handle it.

Continuing in this vein, Pou suggested Prempeh was such a Trump acolyte that he backs Q-anon, a right wing group that promotes conspiracy theories – like the stolen election.

Prempeh laughed that off, saying that when this issue was first raised, he didn’t even know what Q-anon was.

Prempeh was on offense when he brought up Pou’s work as Paterson business administrator when Joey Torres was mayor.

Torres eventually went to jail on corruption charges, which was Prempeh’s point. He said Pou was either ignorant of Torres’ illicit activities or complicit.

Poe said she didn’t even take Prempeh’s accusation seriously. She said the investigation showed that the only individual involved in Torres’ actions was the mayor himself.

The virtual debate was sponsored by the New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey, and the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.

The discussion on actual issues was what one expected – each candidate more or less stood with the positions of their parties.

Poe talked about protecting abortion rights and having strong gun laws.

Prempeh said he backs the Dobbs decision and that the problem is not guns, but criminals.

Immigration produced a more interesting exchange.

Prempeh backed Trump’s call to deport those here illegally as quickly as possible.

Poe did not. She condemned Trump and Republicans for opposing a compromise immigration bill earlier this year.

It was noted by the moderators that CD-9 includes many immigrants, including some in the country illegally.

Asked how as House members they would deal with undocumented people, Prempeh said his office would help all immigrants here legally or going through the process to get legal standing.

But as for others here illegally, he said:

“You got another thing coming.”

Pou offered a different approach, saying:

“I will not turn you away. Our doors will be open.”