This news information is an update to a previous press release issued on September 25, 2020 in which the League of Women Voters of Chattanooga issued invitations to 2020 candidates in current Tennessee state house and senate and U.S. representative races to participate in campaign debates.
The debates were scheduled to be held in the first week of October by the League and the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) in conjunction with WRCB TV Channel 3 and the Chattanooga Times Free press and to be live-streamed on the organizations’ web pages, Facebook and YouTube.
Invitations were issued for the U.S. Congressional District 3 race between Representative Chuck Fleischmann and challenger Meg Gorman, Representative Todd Gardenhire and challenger Glenn Scruggs competing for the Tennessee State Senate seat in District 10, Representative Robin Smith and challenger Joan Farrell running for the Tennessee State House seat for District 26, and Representative Esther Helton and challenger Joseph Udeaja in the Tennessee State House District 30 race.
Incumbents did not respond to our invitation to debate before the given deadline of 4:00 p.m. on September 30, thereby declining the offer to discuss policy before their constituents in this election season.
The U.S. League of Women Voters began sponsoring campaign debates on the national level in the late 1970s and did so to promote dialogue in the public interest until debates were moved under the purview of the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates. The debates then, as they do today, focused on nonpartisan issues with a main goal of informing and empowering voters.
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