Fewer Debates in Virginia as Candidates Enter the Final Month

In the highly contested Senate race in Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins and her Democrat opponent Troy Jackson plan to go head-to-head in four debates. Unfortunately, voters in Virginia won’t have the luxury of getting many chances to hear from congressional candidates.

In fact, in many races, there will be no debate at all this election year.

In the highest-profile race, the bid for one of Virginia’s U.S. Senate seats, incumbent Democrat Mark Warner is seeking a fourth term against Republican challenger Bert Mizusawa, a retired Army major general. At least two proposed debates between the men were canceled after Warner’s side said it couldn’t agree to the schedule.

The canceled events include The People’s Debate, which was to be sponsored by AARP Virginia and held on Oct. 7 at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. AARP pulled the plug because it said Warner’s team “was unable to commit to participating in the event, citing an unsettled and expectedly busy official Senate calendar.”

The League of Women Voters of Virginia also decided to scrap its planned exchange “because [the group] didn’t hear from the Senator.” The incumbent’s team said that “Sen. Warner and his opponent shared a stage on Labor Day in Buena Vista, and Sen. Warner looks forward to continuing that conversation with Virginians across the Commonwealth,” but it won’t be at either of these planned forums.

Mizusawa’s side poked fun at Warner, saying the challenger “is ready, willing, and able to debate Warner, but for the first time in Warner’s political career, the Senator refuses to step to the podium.”

The 6th Congressional District

In Virginia’s 6th Congressional District, Democrat challenger Beth Macy challenged Republican Rep. Ben Cline to three debates. Cline’s team responded in August by announcing he had scheduled the events for Sept. 3 in Frederick County, Sept. 10 in Salem, and Oct. 5 in Harrisonburg.

“Rep. Cline’s team unilaterally decided on this ‘debate’ schedule (the whole schedule is candidate forums not debates, which was made very clear in the invitation) without consulting us at all,” Macy’s team told the Daily Signal at that time, adding that she was already booked on the first two proposed dates.

However, both sides seemed to have agreed to the Oct. 5 event at the Harrisonburg Rotary Club. Then, the organizers canceled that one because the host group said it was concerned that the event would endanger “the Club’s nonpartisan role in our community,” and that the decision was that of the Rotary Club and “not a reflection on either candidate or their willingness to participate.”

Macy told the Daily Signal she plans to attend a community conversation event on Oct. 14 in Clifton Forge, but Rep. Cline’s team said he is already booked at the Oysters with a fundraiser that day and doesn’t plan to attend. “Ben is talking straight to the voters in the final weeks of the campaign,” an adviser told the Daily News-Record.

Other Key Districts

There is no debate scheduled in the 5th Congressional District, where Democrat challenger Tom Perriello accepted invitations to debate, but incumbent Rep. John McGuire said he won’t participate until Perriello apologizes for allegedly lying about him on the trail. There are no head-to-head debates planned in the competitive 1st and 2nd districts, where Republican incumbents Rob Wittman and Jen Kiggans are looking to hold off Democrat challengers Shannon Taylor and Elaine Luria.

In two other districts, organizers tried to move ahead with debates even though the Democrat incumbent wouldn’t take part. In the 7th District, the University of Mary Washington tried twice to schedule a debate that would have included Republican Doug Ollivant, independent Alaha Ahrar and Libertarian Taner Lopez, because Rep. Eugene Vindman had made it clear he would not take part. UMW canceled after Ollivant became unavailable.

In the 8th District, the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax area hosted a debate among Republican Tony Sabio, Libertarian Shelly Arnoldi and independent Tim Sharman, even though Democrat incumbent Rep. Don Beyer turned down an invitation to participate.

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