PHOENIX — With the matchup for Arizona's Senate seat set for November, will Kari Lake and Ruben Gallego debate?
Lake won the Republican nomination in Tuesday's primary election. Gallego ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination. They're both running for a Senate seat being vacated by Kyrsten Sinema, who is not running for re-election.
A spokesperson for Gallego's camp said Gallego would debate Lake before November.
A Lake spokesperson said "Kari Lake will 100% debate. Absolutely."
What the debate looks like, and even the definition of what qualifies as a debate could be open to interpretation.
Did Lake and Lamb debate?
Tuesday night, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who lost the primary race to Lake, said he wished they had debated.
"I would have liked to have had it," Lamb said. "I think it would have been an opportunity to show the difference in experience.”
But shortly afterward, Kari Lake said the exact opposite to a room full of supporters.
"We did our debate on May 23," Lake said. "Yes, we did."
So what happened?
Lake and Lamb were both invited to participate in the Citizen's Clean Election debate, but only Lamb accepted.
However, Lamb and Lake accepted an invitation to appear on a web-streaming event held by the Association of Mature American Citizens.
That event was labeled a "candidate forum" and consisted of a moderator asking each candidate questions.
According to the League of Women Voters, which has sponsored debates across the country, including presidential debates, for decades, a debate has specific requirements. According to the group's FAQ on debates:
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) defines a debate as an event that
- includes at least two candidates;
- is staged in a way that does not promote or advance one candidate over another; and
- allows the candidates to appear concurrently, in face-to-face confrontations, with opportunities to respond to each other.
Other formats outside those described above are considered “Non-debate Candidate Appearances."
In Lamb and Lake's case, the virtual appearance was held in a way that did not prefer one candidate over the others, but neither was allowed to "respond" to each other. However, they did appear concurrently and as "face-to-face" as a web stream can allow.
Mark Lamb, who told 12News it was not a debate, posted the stream on his YouTube channel, with the title "Mark Lamb and Kari Lake Debate".
Debates without debate
Actual debates, where candidates argue with each other over their positions on issues, have become few and far between.
Craig Allen, a professor at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, said modern debates are little more than choreographed appearances for candidates.
"The days of the rock 'em sock 'em debates are over," Allen said.
The last presidential debate between former President Trump and current President Biden included a provision that microphones would be turned off unless it was a candidate's turn to speak.
With Biden's debate performance widely credited for collapsing his preelection campaign, Allen said there's little incentive to take chances in debates.
"I think a time will come when we can get back to a civil dialog between the candidates," he said. "When that will happen? I don't know."
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