Ben Hall
District 5 Public Regulation Commission candidate Ben Hall has rejected a challenge from his Democratic opponent to debate him several times across the district before the Nov. 2 election.
“…just because two opposing candidates do not interact with one another along the campaign trail that does not lead to the degradation of trust between the public and elected officials,” the Republican Hall wrote in an e-mail sent to Democrat Bill McCamley and members of the media this evening.
“I appreciate your invitation to debate but I will respectfully decline. With as many events that are coming up in September and October I am sure we will cross paths somewhere along the campaign trail,” he wrote.
Hall didn’t give a reason in his letter for rejecting McCamley’s challenge. But he did say he can “interact with the public and inform them of my background, knowledge of issues and my experience thru my web site, e-mail and the many forms of media that are available.”
Bill McCamley
McCamley challenged Hall earlier this month to jointly appear at 10 forums across the district this month and next month.
“…since we are both participating in this election as publicly financed candidates with limited budgets for traditional campaign strategies, the opportunity to communicate directly with possible constituents in a thoughtful, meaningful, and detailed manner should be something we should seek with open arms,” McCamley wrote in his e-mail to Hall.
“It has been a number of years since anyone has participated in a comprehensive series of debates like this would be, and hopefully it would set a precedent for candidates in other races,” McCamley wrote.
As I’ve disclosed in the past, I’m friends with McCamley. Click here to read more about that.