Had they looked hard on the internet, Georgia voters might have found a debate, of sorts, in the secretary of state’s race. The Atlanta Press Club sponsored it.
Democrat John Barrow showed up for the televised debate. Republican Brad Raffsensperger did not. He said he had schedule conflict
"The last time we had this debate I think I beat my opponent up pretty big," opined Barrow during the program, speculating as to why his opponent gave precedence to an event in south Georgia.
Barrow hews to the Democrats’ message about broadening voter registration and restraining purges of registered voters from the rolls.
"He claims I’m opposed to maintaining voting rolls," Barrow said during the program, anticipating an argument that went unarticulated Tuesday.
"He’s taken a difference about how best to do it and turned it into a phony claim that I’m opposed to doing it. It’s dishonest as hell and if he were here I’d say it to his face," Barrow, a former member of Congress, said.
In a previous debate, Raffensperger talked about having clean voter lists and curbing voter fraud, which is rarely reported, but is an issue that resonates among Republicans.
"I will safeguard voter integrity by making sure we keep voter ID and make sure we update our voter rolls," Raffensperger said during an October debate, also sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club.
At Tuesday's debate, Raffensperger was represented only by an empty podium, one week before the runoff. He sent a statement blaming the Atlanta Press Club for being inflexible on the debate’s timing.
“Brad Raffensperger is in south Georgia today and the Press Club has been aware of the scheduling conflict for more than a week. There are no surprises here," Barrow said.
The Press Club said it had set the date two days after the November election and tried to contact Raffensperger's campaign. After 10 days passed without an answer, the Press Club contacted the candidate directly, and Raffensperger's campaign told the Press Club there was a conflict with the date. Press Club officials say they persisted with the date, hoping Raffensperger would adjust his schedule to permit his attendance. The candidate formally declined the debate invitation two days prior to the event.
"This thing was scheduled three days after the general election, almost three weeks ago. And all of us have built our schedules around this," Barrow told 11Alive News following the one-sided debate Tuesday. "I think it’s just a missed opportunity for my opponent to defend what he’s been saying."