Ross, Hutchinson Statewide TV Debate Set For Friday, September 19
by September 10, 2014 5:09 pm 111 views
The two major party candidates for Arkansas Governor will square off in a televised debate on Friday, September 19 at 7pm on Nexstar broadcast affiliates across Arkansas.
The debate between Republican Asa Hutchinson and Democrat Mike Ross will take place at Nexstar’s Little Rock affiliate studio, KARK. The debate will be aired live on KARK, KNWA in Fayetteville, and KTAL in Texarkana/Shreveport.
The debate will be replayed on WATN in Memphis, KTVE in El Dorado/Monroe and KOLR and KOZL in Springfield, Missouri. It will also be streamed live on the internet across the websites of the five Nexstar television markets.
“The goal of this debate will be to cut through the campaign clutter to get to know the candidates and exactly what they stand for,” said KARK News Director Austin Kellerman. “We’re aiming to highlight the differences between the candidates to help you make an informed decision about who leads our state.”
Two other candidates for governor, Green Party nominee Josh Drake and Libertarian Frank Gilbert, have complained about not participating in the debate.
Gilbert issued a statement saying the stations are “keeping voters in the dark and selling out the public interest.” Drake and Gilbert were not invited to a debate on October 7th hosted by Talk Business & Politics content partner, KATV Ch. 7 and other ABC affiliates in Arkansas. The third party candidates have also not participated in several other gubernatorial forums, but did participate in an Arkansas Press Association panel this summer and are slated to be part of AETN’s gubernatorial debate in October.
“By selecting only candidates who are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in television advertising it appears that the television stations are more concerned with their profits than with informing voters. They should be ashamed and they should invite every candidate that will be on the ballot this November. Anything less is simply a deliberate attempt to affect the outcome of the election,” Gilbert said.
In the most recent Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College poll, taken in late July, Hutchinson led Ross 46-41% with Gilbert scoring 3% of the vote and Drake garnering 2.5%.