Debates nixed in key General Assembly races over how questions may be asked

Candidates in Senate District 23, House District 26 each say they aren’t to blame. Organizer: Candidates ‘own the decision.’ Plus, Biden forgives some student loan debt. And remembering Len Dawson

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Looks as if two television debates in a pair of high-profile Statehouse districts centered in Tippecanoe County are off, after candidates couldn’t come to terms on how questions would be asked.

Fred Duttlinger, a Republican challenging state Rep. Chris Campbell in the West Lafayette-based House District 26, announced on social media early this week that plans for an Oct. 6 debate on WLFI wouldn’t happen because the Democratic incumbent backed out.

On Wednesday, Campbell disputed that, saying she didn’t walk away from the League of Women Voters-sponsored event, instead that Duttlinger wanted to change the rules in a way that might have allowed her opponent to get the questions in advance.

In the Indiana Senate District 23 race, wrangling over a similar ground rules and format in their debate left Democrat David Sanders and Republican Spencer Deery ultimately to scrap their face-to-face meeting, too.