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At Rubio-Murphy Debate, Group Makes Cancer A Political Issue

Kate Stein
/
WLRN
Natalie Kliné, left, and Donna Lundy were among a group at the second Senate debate to make cancer a political issue. "

Wednesday's debate between Senate candidates Patrick Murphy and Marco Rubio tackled partisan issues Florida voters have heard a lot about: Supreme Court nominees, Syria, and rising health insurance costs. But one group brought a new issue to the table: cancer.

 

Donna Lundy was at the Senate debate collecting signatures for a petition that calls on politicians to make cancer research a top funding priority.

Lundy says one in three people worldwide will get cancer during their lives. That’s way more people than will ever be affected by ISIS or abortion or many other political issues.

"Our goal with Cancer Votes is to give people yet something else to think about when you’re evaluating the candidates," Lundy said.

Lundy is a cancer survivor who works at the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"We’re all one degree from cancer," she said. "Who doesn’t have family members that either have survived or that we’ve lost to the fight?"

Lundy's organization reached out to political candidates nationwide to ask them how they'd lead the fight against cancer.

Patrick Murphy and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton say they’d promote Vice President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot program for funding, research and collaboration. Marco Rubio says he supports cancer research but that the U.S. must cut wasteful spending elsewhere.

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson says he’d model a healthy lifestyle and increase access to cheaper care. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein wasn’t listed and Republican nominee Donald Trump declined to respond.

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