No Debate in Michigan's Senate Race?
Yesterday, we wrote that the Pennsylvania Senate race may not feature a debate this fall, despite a tightening contest.
Another Senate race that may be sans debate this fall: Michigan's Senate contest.
A hot battle never materialized in Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow was once considered potentially vulnerable. Former GOP Rep. Pete Hoekstra hasn't been able to turn it into a race, but he's certainly been agitating for debates. But the Detroit Free Press reports that Stabenow's camp is finished with debate negotiations:
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow's campaign on Thursday said it was putting an end to the debate over debates with her Republican rival, former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Holland, because the two sides have been unable to come to any kind of agreement about how many they would have and the particulars involved.
Not that you'd know that from talking to the two campaigns, however, since both say it was the other that was the source of the delay.
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On Thursday, Stabenow's campaign said it had accepted the idea of two debates - one in Detroit and another at Grand Valley State University - but that Hoekstra wouldn't finalize an agreement on the two while continuing to call for more.
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Upon hearing that Stabenow's campaign wouldn't debate, Hoekstra's campaign put out a statement of its own, saying Stabenow's campaign "refused to negotiate in good faith during the entire process."
After winning the GOP primary in August, underdog Hoesktra has called for six debates. As in Pennsylvania, the two camps could still agree to a debate -- but with negotiations stopped three and a half weeks from Election Day, time is running short.
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