Multiple debates between U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, and Joe Kent are slated for October.
The Kent campaign announced this week that the Yacolt Republican has agreed to participate in five debates next month.
Kent is running to unseat Perez in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District.
The first debate will take place at 7 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Rose Center for the Arts at Lower Columbia College in Longview. The debate is a part of the Cowlitz Civil Dialogue Project, a weekly series of candidate forums.
The 90-minute debate will be televised live on KLTV, the local cable television access channel.
Kent initially declined the invitation but later confirmed, according to organizer Alan Rose. The event would have been a Q&A session with Perez if Kent didn’t participate.
There will be no audience questions, but the public may suggest them on the Civil Dialogue Project’s website at www.cowlitzcivildialogue.com.
The next debate will begin at 6 p.m. Oct. 7 on KATU News, followed by two additional televised debates: Oct. 14 on KOIN 6 News and Oct. 17 on “Straight Talk with Laurel Porter” on KGW-TV.
The fifth debate will take place on KXL-FM, but the date is still to be determined.
Perez will also be participating in an Oct. 10 forum hosted by the League of Women Voters at 4 p.m. at Clark College’s Gaiser Hall. The event is open to the public and will air live on CVTV.org. Kent has not confirmed that he will attend.
The Kent campaign also announced this week that he will be hosting more than 30 town hall events across the district through Election Day. The town hall schedule will be announced in mid-September, according to Kent campaign manager Flo Rossmiller.
The Perez campaign criticized Kent last week when he pulled out of a debate that his campaign had previously agreed to. The Kent campaign said his absence was due to a scheduling error. The “meet the candidates” event was hosted by the Clark County Public Safety Alliance.
“It’s odd for a challenger to dodge a debate with an incumbent, but Joe Kent’s an odd guy,” Phil Gardner, a senior adviser with the Perez campaign, previously said in a statement.
The Kent campaign has criticized Perez for an alleged unwillingness to answer unscreened questions.
“I look forward to my debates with Marie Perez and doing the one thing that no voter has been allowed to do: hold her accountable for her record,” Kent said in a statement.
