Tennessee’s two party nominees have spent months arguing over who is afraid to debate. On October 27, voters will finally get a debate, but staunch Democrats and loyal Republicans will watch it without their nominees on stage.
Independent gubernatorial candidates Dr. Lauren Pinkston and David Hatley have both accepted the Tennessee Press
Association’s (TPA) invitation to debate at Middle Tennessee State University without conditions. Republican nominee Sen. Marsha Blackburn has declined to participate.
Democratic nominee and Memphis City Councilwoman Jerri Green, who has spent much of her campaign demanding that Blackburn face her on a debate stage, has conditioned her own participation on terms that would exclude the Independent candidates.
“The irony is difficult to miss. But these games are unfortunately what voters have come to expect from major party candidates, which is why they are disengaged from politics and now identify more commonly as Independent than Republican or Democrat,” Pinkston says.
Pinkston says the October 27 debate offers Green an opportunity to put her campaign’s central message into practice. “Tennesseans can see the hypocrisy in all of this immediately, and voters are tired of empty words,” says Pinkston. “It is weak to demand accountability from your opponents online, but then only step onto stages conveniently set in your favor.”
She continues, “I am unimpressed by any candidate who, after winning a major party nomination, continues
campaigning to only Republicans or only Democrats. There is no leadership or courage required to enter a room of people who already agree with you.”
The dispute comes amid a troubling national retreat from political debates. According to a September 25 ABC News analysis, 21 of the 36 gubernatorial races on the ballot this year will not feature a debate between the two major-party
nominees. The same is true of 21 of the 35 U.S. Senate contests.
As Pinkston continues her campaign across Tennessee’s 95 counties, she maintains that the state deserves a gubernatorial race defined by ideas, public and government accountability, as well as genuine competition rather than political calculations about who benefits from sharing a stage.
“On October 27, David Hatley and I will debate, because Tennesseans deserve to hear from the people asking to lead them. The question is no longer whether Tennessee will have a debate, but why the two major-party nominees believe they should be excused from it,” says Pinkston.
“I want to thank TPA for organizing a streamed debate and for including all four candidates who have organized effective competition for the role of Tennessee’s next state executive. I look forward to showing voters who the true Independent is in this race, and who has the skills needed to bridge political divides in defense of democratic principles over party politics.”
