Congratulations to the League of Women Voters of Texas for arranging a Senate debate at which all candidates will attend.
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and her two challengers, Barbara Ann Radnofsky and Scott Jameson, plan to take part in a debate Oct. 19, officials said Friday.Hutchison had agreed to the debate "verbally," but hadn't signed an official form, said Janet Imhoff, program vice president for the League of Women Voters, co-sponsor of the debate with San Antonio television station KLRN, a PBS affiliate.
Hutchison said she is in the final stages of setting up the debate.
Radnofsky, a Democrat from Houston, and Jameson, a Libertarian from Plano, had a debate Thursday in Houston and are planning another one Oct. 7 at Rice University. The San Antonio debate would be the first involving Hutchison, a Republican.
"The Senate campaign, being such a high office, deserved a debate as well," said Imhoff, comparing the race to the high-profile gubernatorial race, which has the four main candidates planning to square off Oct. 6.
The Oct. 19 debate will be taped at KLRN's studios and broadcast at 9 p.m.
According to a Radnofsky press relase, the terms of the debate are as follows:
This debate shall:Be fair, impartial and nonpartisan.
Provide an equal opportunity for each candidate to address the issues
Keep the moderator, not the candidates, in control of the debate.
Provide information that will benefit the voters, not a particular candidate.
Use format provided as part of this agreement.
Be open to all media.As a candidate in the debate, I agree that:
There will be one nonpartisan moderator.
The panel will be nonpartisan.
The questions will be provided by the questioners.
The speaking order of the candidates will be determined by a draw as specified under the format rules.
The responses will be timed.
There will be no campaigning in the room where the debate is held. Buttons, signs, literature, banners, t-shirts, etc. will be prohibited.
The audience will not be allowed to use audio or video recorders during the debate.
Audio and/or videotapes of the debate, in part or whole, cannot be used by either candidate or party for any purpose.
The candidates can bring to their respective podiums only paper and pen for the purpose of making personal notes during the debate. Water will be provided.