Candidates for U.S. Senate at a Rockingham County forum on Saturday centered their pitches on three recurring themes: opposition to abortion, tighter election rules, and stricter immigration enforcement.

Michelle Marra, who identified herself to the audience as running for U.S. Senate, framed the contest as “a battle for the heart and soul of The United States of America,” urging voters to turn North Carolina “back red” and to support down-ballot races that she said depend on higher turnout. Thomas Johnson tied his candidacy to personal faith and service, invoking his Air Force Academy background and calling for term limits in Congress; Johnson said “all members of congress… should have term limits.” Don Brown emphasized fiscal threats and prosecutorial action, calling the national debt a “ticking time bomb” and promising aggressive prosecutions of what he called Democrat corruption.

When asked about abortion, candidates spoke in near-unison that they view life as beginning at conception. Don Brown said, “life begins at conception” and argued for recognizing fetal rights under due-process clauses; Johnson and Marra offered similar declarative responses during the Q&A.

On election policy and campaign finance, candidates proposed different remedies rather than a single solution. Marra called for a national voter-ID law, one day of voting and a return to hand-counted paper ballots. Johnson proposed a public, ledger-style system to record lobbying and transactions, saying “blockchain ledger… 100% transparency is available for us today.” Brown suggested eliminating the Internal Revenue Service and said non-profit organizations should be forced to open their books.

Immigration drew forceful rhetoric. Candidates described illegal immigration as a crime and a threat to public safety and infrastructure; one candidate argued for a multi-year moratorium and criticized the 1965 Hart-Celler Act, while others advocated immediate enforcement and deportation for criminals.

Mental health and public safety also surfaced as cross-cutting issues. Thomas Johnson shared personal experience, describing recent family loss and calling for focused policies for young men; several candidates urged more inpatient psychiatric capacity and joint state-federal efforts to treat people with severe mental illness rather than only relying on the criminal-justice system.

The forum closed with candidates urging turnout. Across many answers, faith and conservative social values were explicitly cited as a guiding framework for policy positions. The event was hosted by Craig Travis and included pastoral invocation by Pastor Mark Smith of True Gospel Baptist Church.

The next steps for these contests are the primary and general election cycles; candidates encouraged supporters to volunteer, donate and vote.