Republican U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann on Tuesday confirmed he won’t debate Dr. Mary Headrick again in Tennessee’s 3rd District race, reports the Chattanooga TFP.
Fleischmann campaign spokesman Tyler Threadgill cited his boss’s “full schedule” before Election Day and said the congressman met a single-debate promise when he squared off against Headrick at a lightly attended forum in Bradley County.
But that’s not enough for the Democratic challenger in a district that includes 10 other counties and 692,000 residents.
“It’s so unfair he won’t debate,” Headrick said. “What can I do if he won’t? Spend every dollar I get.”
Records show Headrick, a physician from Maynardville, bought $13,983 in advertising time on two Chattanooga television networks at the beginning of October. Between then and Election Day, that translates to 91 commercials on the city’s ABC and NBC affiliates.
The ads are slated for news and game shows. Headrick is planning a similar buy at Chattanooga’s CBS affiliate, and she’s already running about $8,000 worth of 30-second cable ads throughout the 3rd District, which snakes from Chattanooga to the Kentucky border.