Fourth Congressional District Democratic nominee and state Sen. Eric Stewart, D-Belvedere, on Tuesday challenged U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais to three debates “over the next month” in advance of the Nov. 6 election.
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DesJarlais did not agree immediately, so Stewart asked the freshman congressman to email a response to his campaign before Monday.
Stewart probably won’t receive a friendly reply. DesJarlais campaign spokesman Brandon Lewis on Wednesday said the congressman believes “it’s very early in the process to be discussing debates.”
“[We] intend to focus our time on meeting people throughout the district,” Lewis said.
It’s a little different in the 3rd District, where both nominees — Republican incumbent Fleischmann and Democratic challenger Dr. Mary Headrick — have promised to debate each other.
But there are nuances behind the agreement.
It’s a little different in the 3rd District, where both nominees — Republican incumbent Fleischmann and Democratic challenger Dr. Mary Headrick — have promised to debate each other.
But there are nuances behind the agreement.
Headrick, a Maynardville, Tenn., acute-care physician, said it’s important to have “three to five subject-oriented” debates throughout the 3rd District, which joins Chattanooga and Oak Ridge with rural areas in 11 counties all the way to the Kentucky border.
“Urban and rural have different needs,” she said. “Your most informed voters will either read about or listen to these debates, so we need to do several.”
But Fleischmann campaign spokesman Jordan Powell said the congressman only promised to debate Headrick. Fleischmann never said how many times, Powell said, so a single debate is possible.
“He pledged to debate her,” Powell said. “Outside of that, we’ve got our own campaign to run and Chuck’s got to do his job in Washington. There’s still a lot to figure out.”