Candidates open to debates in some form

A spokeswoman for U.S. Dana Rohrabacher’s campaign has agreed in principle to debate his challenger, Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook, before they face off in the November elections. But the campaigns sparred even as they appeared to agree in principle.

Cook’s campaign challenged Rohrabacher last week to at least three town-hall style debates, with at least one in a Los Angeles County area like Long Beach or the Palos Verdes Peninsula — areas that are in the 46th Congressional District along with Orange County cities like Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Costa Mesa.

“The voters in our district should have meaningful opportunities to hear our very different goals and visions for the 46th district,” Cook said in a statement.

In principle, Rohrabacher’s campaign agrees, said Phaedra Dugan, a Rohrabacher campaign spokeswoman.

“Historically Dana has always debated his challengers,” she said. “He’ll happily debate [Cook] several times. I don’t have any information right now, but he’s definitely open to more.”

Shaw took the response as an acceptance of the challenge.

“The Cook campaign is really happy that he’s agreed to three debates,” Shaw said. “We’re hoping that one or more will take place in Orange County, plus at least one in Los Angeles County, and we’re hoping that they will take place before Oct. 7 [when absentee ballots are mailed] which is really the time a debate should be held.”

But Rohrabacher’s campaign called the challenge a stunt. If anything, Rohrabacher has been more willing to debate than Cook, Dugan said. Rohrabacher agreed to a debate at Orange Coast College long before Cook did, she added.

“She’s [Cook is] spinning this as though she has initiated this, when in truth Congressman Rohrabacher had agreed to a debate prior to this so-called challenge,” she said. “She’s the one who had refused to debate [Rohrabacher.]”

The debate Dugan mentioned would also include Green Party candidate Tom Lash and Libertarian Ernst Gansteiger. It was initially called for by professor Richard Lara, who ran against Cook in the Democratic primary earlier this year.

As for that debate, it doesn’t yet satisfy the “substance of the letter,” Shaw said. “None of the details have been worked out.”

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at [email protected].