PHOENIX — As former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris argue over the terms of their upcoming presidential debate, a similar contest is playing out in the Arizona Senate race.
GOP state Senate candidate Kari Lake has long challenged her Democratic rival, Rep. Ruben Gallego, to take the debate stage. Now that Gallego says she’s game, Lake insists the debate deviate from its traditional format.
“I’m ready to debate Ruben Gallego right now, right here,” Lake said defiantly at a press conference in Phoenix on March 15.
“I’m going to debate him at that table right now,” she added, pointing into the distance, eliciting laughter from the crowd. “I’ll debate him any time.”
More than four months later, after the Gallego-Lake electoral showdown was formalized as both candidates won their respective primaries, Gallego confirmed to NBC News that he is ready for a debate – but Lake seemed more selective about who should organize one.
On Tuesday, just hours before securing the GOP nomination, NBC News asked Lake if she would participate in a debate against Gallego organized by the Arizona Citizens’ Clean Elections Commission, the state’s traditional administrator for political debates.
“I think we should talk about which debate we’re going to have,” Lake said after voting in the Republican primary at a polling place in Paradise Valley.
“I think our two teams can discuss a fair place, a fair platform to do this,” she added after expressing skepticism of the Arizona Clean Elections Commission.
In 2022, the Democratic candidate for governor, Katie Hobbs, then secretary of state, refused to participate in a Clean Elections debate in Arizona against Lake, the Republican candidate for governor. When Hobbs refused, the committee invited Lake to a 30-minute Q&A. Hobbs proposed that she and Lake host separate town halls organized by Arizona Clean Elections, but the commission rejected the offersaying it would be a departure from the traditional debate format.
Hobbs has not yet agreed to the Arizona Clean Elections proposal for a traditional debate, saying Lake would create a “spectacle.” His decision allowed Lake to have a 30-minute town meeting on Oct. 23, 2022, hosted by the commission in Hobbs’ absence. Hobbs then participated in a separate question-and-answer session with Arizona PBS, which has no affiliation with Arizona Clean Elections.
The commission said it was “surprised” by Arizona PBS’ decision to invite Hobbs to a town hall.
“This decision is disappointing, especially after multiple attempts, on behalf of all partners involved in producing this year’s General Election debates, to organize a traditional gubernatorial debate between the two candidates,” Arizona Clean Elections said ahead of the dueling town halls , noting the announcement “broke with our shared practice.”
Two years later, Lake still harbors resentment toward the commission, despite his lack of involvement in Hobbs’ Q&A in 2022. Lake explained his complaint about “how they treated people in the last election cycle, in 2022, where people who decided not whoever did the debate, i.e. Hobbs, ended up winning half an hour for himself.
“I don’t want to work with people who, you know, operate that way,” she said.
Given that Hobbs’ Q&A was not affiliated with Clean Elections Arizona, the organization’s executive director says Lake’s frustration is misplaced.
“The Lake campaign is mistaken about the facts of 2022,” executive director Thomas Collins said in a statement to NBC News.
“Clean Elections did not sponsor any debates or interviews with then-Secretary Hobbs (now Governor Hobbs) in 2022,” wrote Collins, who noted that the commission discontinued its relationship with Arizona PBS during the 2022 election cycle after announcing it would invite Hobbs for the Q&A.
Collins remains hopeful that the committee can still sponsor the Gallego-Lake showdown, writing: “We look forward to hosting the U.S. Senate debate between Ms.
Asked about Lake’s hesitation to participate in the Clean Elections debate, Gallego highlighted his history in Arizona.
“Traditionally, in the last, I think, three Senate races, all the debates in the Senate have been on the Clean Elections debate,” Gallego said last week. “So I don’t understand why Kari Lake is afraid of a balanced debate.”
He accused Lake of “departing from tradition” and hurled barbs at her for refusing to accept her defeat in the 2022 gubernatorial race.
“Traditionally, you also concede after losing an election. You don’t wait until two years later and file a request to nullify the election. But I think now she’s comfortable and wants to break away from another tradition,” Gallego said.
Gallego also told NBC News that he is not taking into consideration Hobbs’ reservations about Lake turning a debate into a “spectacle.”
“The consideration is we need to talk to Arizona voters, and I trust Arizona voters will listen to both sides,” he said.
Clean Election debates in Arizona typically take place in October, about a month before Election Day. Lake’s firebrand style and tendency to go for the jugular with incendiary attacks, coupled with Gallego’s tendency to become unstable in politics, would make the debate a highly anticipated affair.
But before it comes to fruition, the Lake and Gallego campaigns must go through the same exercise that the Trump and Harris campaigns are facing: agreeing to terms.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
