Mayoral candidate Toni Harp Thursday challenged opponent Justin Elicker to a maximum of three debates. Elicker accepted, and opposed a limit on the number of match-ups.
Harp, a state senator, this month won the Democratic mayoral primary, capturing nearly half of the votes. Elicker, a city alderman, came in second place, and chose to run again in the general election as an independent candidate.
Harp’s debate challenge came in the form of a letter to Elicker from Harp campaign manager Jason Bartlett.
“Every voter deserves to know the candidates’ positions on important issues,” Bartlett is quoted as saying, in a campaign press release. “To that end, I would like to propose that we work toward an agreement for debates. The Harp Campaign will agree to a maximum of three mayoral debates.”
“I think it’s unfortunate they’re trying to limit the number of debates,” Elicker said. “I think it’s important that the New Haven community have as many opportunities as possible to hear the candidates. … And to push my campaign to limit the number of debates will limit the amount of discussion and stifle that discussion around the city.”
Elicker said he’d like to have “as many [debates] as people want.”
“It’s traditional for the general election campaign to have three debates of the major party candidates,” responded Patrick Scully, spokesman for the Harp campaign. “That’s what the president did.”
Scully said even proposing three debates with Elicker constitutes “a bit of a courtesy” on the part of the Harp campaign.
“Mr. Elicker is not a major-party candidate,” Scully said. “He is a petitioning independent, which, the threshold is very low” to collect enough signatures for a spot on the ballot.
“We just don’t think the time is well spent doing fragmented single-issue debates,” Scully said.
“Mr. Elicker is absolutely wrong that it will limit discussion” to have only three debates, Scully said. The Harp campaign is “going to every single venue” to have discussions with voters, he said.