JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Northeast Florida voters will not have the chance to hear from the Republican candidates for Governor on a debate stage.
Action News Jax told you last week, we were attempting to hold a debate ahead of the Primary in August, but a majority of the Republican candidates didn’t agree to participate.
After months of communication, only James Fishback and former House Speaker Paul Renner agreed to take the stage.
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After initially expressing interest, Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins’ campaign told us Tuesday to “Get Congressman Donalds to commit. Once he does, we will be there.”
It’s a decision that left UNF Political Science Professor Sean Freeder more than a little confused.
“This is a hail Mary pass kind of situation. So, you know, Renner, Fishback, I totally understand why they would very much want this debate to happen to see if they can do something in the debate that would flip the script. I would think Collins would want that too,” said Freeder.
Congressman Byron Donalds’ campaign has repeatedly stated in recent weeks that he has no intention of debating.
“It is not Byron’s job to legitimize campaigns that have failed to gain meaningful support,” a campaign spokesperson told us in a statement.
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UCF Political Science Professor Dr. Aubrey Jewett argued given most polls show Donalds with a 30-point lead, he’s kind of got a point from a campaign strategy perspective.
“Because from their perspective and from their campaign manager’s perspective, the only thing that can happen if they do a debate will be to make their situation worse,” said Jewett.
It was Action News Jax’s goal to, at the very least, get a majority of the field to participate in order to host the debate, which would have been broadcast in the Jacksonville and Orlando television markets.
We reached the decision on the debate Wednesday, because the venue where we planned to hold the debate also needed time to secure and prep the space for the event.
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Freeder argued, even without Donalds, the debate would have provided a real benefit to Florida voters.
“I doubt very much that most of those people voting could tell you meaningful, substantive differences across these four candidates on most of the issues they’d be responsible for, and that’s tragic,” said Freeder.
And Jewett argued that, despite the dynamics in this race, he believes the era of debates is far from over.
“Because they still provide a great avenue to get your name recognition up and get your message out to voters,” said Jewett.
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