On Wednesday, Republican congressional candidate Brian Maryott will be participating in a forum alongside Rep. Mike Levin. The forum will be hosted by the North County Chambers of Commerce and moderated by the League of Women Voters.
Additionally, Maryott and Levin will participate in a Friday forum hosted by Pacific Ridge School and moderated by Jesse Marx, associate editor at the Voice of San Diego.Both of these forums will be available in their entirety once they are released by the respective event hosts.
The Maryott campaign is looking “forward to a robust discussion of the issues during these forums, but remains disappointed that without time for rebuttals, the discussion will lack the fundamental characteristics of a traditional debate.”
Levin has notably avoided any and all debate requests from Brian Maryott for over a year, finding one excuse after another to avoid engaging with his opponent and being transparent with constituents. While these forums fall short of the debate desired by Maryott and voters in the 49th Congressional District, they’re certainly better than nothing. Nonetheless, voters should note which candidate has sought transparency and conversation, while the other has been absent since being elected.
“Throughout this election, our campaign has led the effort to begin public debates so that voters could hear from the candidates themselves. After more than a year of pressure from our campaign, Mike Levin has finally agreed to answer questions in a series of candidate forums,” said congressional candidate Brian Maryott. “We remain disappointed and, frankly, appalled that Mike Levin refused all invitations for live, televised debates. His hiding is an insult to voters. If elected to Congress, I commit to participating in a true debate with my future opponent every election cycle, no exceptions.”
In addition to declining an offer for a live, televised debate from KUSI News, the Levin campaign also failed to respond to Maryott’s offer for a live, independent forum on Zoom co-hosted by both campaigns. The documentation of this invitation is available here.
“Televised debates have the greatest impact, reach and accessibility for voters in our district,” said Maryott campaign manager Patrick Snow. “Mike Levin’s refusal to participate in them tell voters all they need to know about his failed record.”
