Two high-profile Republican candidates in Texas are under fire from their Democratic opponents for declining to participate in debates, long considered a cornerstone of U.S. democratic traditions.
On Friday, State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, lambasted Gov. Greg Abbott after he missed the deadline to accept an invitation to a debate hosted by NBCUniversal Studios and Texas’ Hearst Newspapers.
“Absent Abbott is scared to debate me because he’s a weak governor who’s afraid to face his failed record,” Hinojosa said in a statement. “Right now, Texas leads the nation in the number of people disconnected from their electricity, uninsured residents, uninsured children and bankruptcies. Texans deserve to hear a vision for Texas where we save public schools and put money in their pockets.”
That debate was set to take place in Fort Worth on Oct. 15.
Meanwhile, Democratic Railroad Commissioner nominee Joe Rosenthal criticized controversial Republican candidate Bo French for being a no-show at a debate hosted Friday by the National Association of Royalty Owners’ Texas chapter. The Texas Railroad Commission oversees oil and gas regulation in the state.
“The Railroad Commission exists to protect the people in that room,” Rosenthal said while standing next to an empty chair meant for French.
Rosenthal continued: “They sent an invitation three months ago. They set aside a chair for him. He didn’t come, and apparently he didn’t have the courtesy to tell them why. These are Texans advocating to protect their family’s land and get paid what they’re owed — they deserved better than an empty seat.”
It’s the second debate French has skipped this election cycle. The first was in his hometown of Midland in April.
Abbott’s and French’s absences align with a trend in GOP politics since the first Trump administration, in which Republican candidates have refused to participate in general election debates — a tradition with roots in the iconic 1858 Lincoln-Douglas face-offs.
Televised debates have also been a staple of the American democratic process, especially since the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates.
Even so, the Republican National Committee (RNC) voted unanimously in April 2022 to withdraw its nominees from participating in the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), effectively altering a decades-long tradition of general election debates.
The RNC also formally paused its involvement in primary debates during the 2024 election cycle.
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