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Debate over debates: Dems accuse GOP of dodging

Minot Republicans are dodging debates, according to the Souris Valley Democratic-NPL, which has been advocating for a legislative debate opportunity to occur before the Nov. 5 election.

Republicans reference schedule conflicts and a desire to focus campaign efforts elsewhere in explaining their decisions to decline a debate.

Democratic-NPL House candidates Lisa Hermosillo in District 38 and Alexandra Deufel in District 40 are running against Republicans Rep. Dan Ruby and Christina Wolff in District 38 and Rep. Matt Ruby and Macy Bolinske in District 40. The districts have been dominantly Republican in recent years.

Logan Longtin, chairman of Souris Valley Dem-NPL, said he has encouraged the Democratic candidates to reach out to encourage organizations that have sponsored debates in the past to do so this fall but isn’t surprised Republicans have declined to participate.

“It kind of speaks to the entitlement they feel.They don’t need to debate. They don’t need to answer constituent questions and stand up for what they believe in,” he said. “They basically feel they will be entitled to the seats.”

Matt Ruby said only one entity had reached out regarding setting up a District 40 debate, and among the candidates of both parties, none of the four possible dates worked for everyone.

Dan Ruby said after visiting with his campaign manager, the decision was made not to have District 38 candidates participate in a debate. He explained the sponsoring organization had not initiated the idea for a debate but was prompted to do so by the Democratic-NPL candidates.

“They are trying to get some attention and some exposure,” Ruby said. “It was basically something where they were shopping around to find somebody to do a debate to get some attention for their campaign.”

While seeking out a debate sponsor is a reasonable strategy as they look to promote their candidacies, Ruby said, he also added, “I just choose not to have my campaign run and dictated to by my opponents.”

He said he and Wolff are wrapping up the final weeks of the campaign with door-to-door visits.

“I just don’t see any value at this late date for our campaign to step aside and do a debate,” he said.

Longtin said Hermosillo and Deufel have been accepting invitations to a number of events that enable them to get their message out.

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