The three contenders in Minnesota’s most fiercely contested U.S. House race, the 3rd Congressional District, squared off Tuesday evening for the second time. Democrat Ashwin Madia (pictured), Republican Erik Paulsen and Independence Party candidate David Dillon debated issues for nearly an hour at the Twin Cities Public Television studios in downtown St. Paul. They are seeking to replace retiring Rep. Jim Ramstad. A poll released earlier this month showed Paulsen with a statistically insignificant 44-41 lead over Madia.

The discussion, moderated by TPT’s Mary Lahammer and sponsored by the AARP, was largely amicable. Madia occasionally sought to highlight some bright-line differences with his Republican counterpart, while Dillon got off several of the evening’s best lines. The discussion focused primarily on the economy, Iraq and healthcare.

Madia responded to a question about home foreclosures by relating an anecdote about a 66-year-old woman he encountered this week whose family lost their home to foreclosure. “They lost everything,” he said. “We need people in Washington who understand this and are willing to go to bat for people like that.” Madia called for criminal prosecution of scurrilous lenders and increased assistance for homeowners who are facing foreclosure — a stance that his opponents largely echoed.

Dillon took on the looming crisis of Social Security solvency squarely. “It’s gonna go broke; it’s gonna run out of money,” he said. “If it’s the third rail of politics, bring it to me. I’d like to put my tongue on it. It’s not that complicated.”

On foreign policy, Paulsen attempted to portray his Democratic opponent as naive about world affairs. “Ashwin has said that Iran is not a threat,” he charged. “I do think that that they are a threat… and it’s real.”

Madia quickly shot back: “This is one of the reasons that people don’t really like politics, because it gets caught in this game of semantics,” he said. “What I think we ought to do about it is aggressive diplomacy. We get Iran to do what we want in a way that doesn’t involve war.”

One area in which the candidates differed significantly was gay marriage. Paulsen stated that he supports a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. By contrast Madia endorsed the right of gays to marry. Dillon said he supports civil unions and argued against amending the Constitution to prohibit gay marriages. “I think using the Constitution for this kind of thing is terrible,” he said.

At the close of the debate, Lahammer pressed the candidates to explain how they’ll produce change in Washington as just one of 435 legislators. Madia highlighted his experience as an Iraq war veteran. “It’s true I’ll be one out of 435 people in the U. S. Congrees,” he said. “But it’s also true that I will be one out of two that served in this war… And I think that that’s a unique perspective to bring.”