Three quarters of the Democrats running to replace Allyson Schwartz in PA-13 gathered in Montgomery County yesterday afternoon to debate, but mostly agree, on the issues facing the district.

State Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Philadelphia), State Senator Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery) and Dr. Val Arkoosh attended the debate hosted by the Montgomery County chapter of Democracy for America.

A representative from the group said in her introductions that former Congresswoman Marjorie Margolies was invited to the forum five times, and each time declined to attend. She did; however, make an appearance on MSNBC yesterday afternoon.

Each of the candidates who did attend clearly characterized themselves as candidates. Boyle made a strong pitch to be the most pro-union choice; Leach sat in the middle of the dais but was definitely the furthest left; and Arkoosh used her experience as a doctor and health care advocate to stake her claim as the scientific expert in the field.

Boyle started talking about labor right out of the gate when he explained why he was running.

“I have 23 labor union endorsements; I’ve been there as a champion for working families,” when asked why he was in the race. “I’m running for Congress because it’s wrong that millionaires and billionaires are paying a lower tax rate than policemen, firefighters and teachers.”

Arkoosh seemed to resonate with the audience in her opening statements as well.

“[We’re] sending way too many career politicians to Washington,” she said. “My background is finding solutions. That’s what doctors do every day.”

Throughout the afternoon, Leach broke up the monotony of agreement between the candidate with a few jokes that the audience seemed to appreciate.

Later in the forum, the moderator teed up a question on the War on Drugs and marijuana regulation for Leach, who got to answer first.

“This is a policy which is 75 years old and hasn’t been revisited,” he said after he outlined the high costs of enforcing marijuana prohibition. “It is destroying the minority community where you are 5 times more likely to be incarcerated even though the rate of use is the same.”

He was the only candidate to support legalization of marijuana, although the other two said they support the legalization of medical marijuana.

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea to sit back and see how this works out,” Boyle answered, explaining that he wanted to review the examples of other states that have legalized the drug.

Again, Arkoosh gave a thoughtful answer that bellied her medical experience.

“As a doctor it’s hard for me to get behind inhaling any burning substance into your lungs,” she said, although she was more open to the idea than Boyle. “But I want to see the data and I want to see the evidence.”

The candidates agreed on issues from reining in the NSA, addressing income inequality, increasing the minimum wage, working toward a public option health care system and protecting Israel.

There was some dissention when asked about public school, but the candidates took different directions with their answers.

Boyle strongly advocated for public schools and their increased funding; Arkoosh relayed her worries about Common Core standards merely increasing the quantity of tests as opposed to the quality of education; and Leach touted his work in the State Senate fighting against vouchers.