O’Connor pushes for debate with Balderson
The campaign manager for Democrat Danny O’Connor is expressing frustration that Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson has yet to agree to a full-fledged debate between the candidates for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District.
Balderson, a Zanesville Republican, narrowly defeated O’Connor in the Aug. 7 special election for the seat that U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, a Genoa Township Republican, vacated in January to take a job at the Ohio Business Roundtable.
“I write to express our immense disappointment in the Balderson campaign’s refusal to accept a live, televised debate of the issues at stake for the voters of the 12th Congressional District,” wrote Annie Ellison, the campaign manager for O’Connor, in a letter hand-delivered to the Balderson campaign. She requested that the Balderson campaign respond to their request by 5 p.m. Friday.
“Voters deserve to have their concerns — like access to health care, the cost of prescription drugs and the right to retire with dignity — addressed in a public venue with a neutral moderator,” she wrote.
Ellison said the campaigns have discussed possible debates from hosts including Channel 10, The Columbus Dispatch and WOSU, and Channel 4, and discussed two dozen calendar dates.
Jenna Knepper, the campaign manager for Balderson, said the campaign “looks forward to allowing the voters to hear from both candidates, but our campaign will not be held hostage by the media who want us to submit to their artificial deadlines for forums.”
“Many organizations are still in discussions about events they may hold with both candidates, and we respect their process and are allowing them to finalize details,” she said. “There will be many opportunities for voters to hear from both candidates, and we look forward to being a part of those events.”
In Ohio’s 15th Congressional District, Republican Rep. Steve Stivers of Upper Arlington and Democrat Rick Neal have agreed to a debate Oct. 19 hosted by the Columbus Metropolitan Club, at the Boat House at Confluence Park, 679 W. Spring St., from noon to 1:15 p.m. The debate will be moderated by Colleen Marshall, co-anchor at Channel 4 and will be sponsored by Hannah News Service and the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. They’ve also agreed to a second debate in Athens on Oct. 30, but are still ironing out final logistics on that one.
In Ohio’s 1st Congressional District near Cincinnati — one of the most hotly contested races in the state — Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Cincinnati, and Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval, a Democrat, announced they’ve agreed to three debates.