Attorney Tanner Ainge, Provo Mayor John Curtis, Libertarian Joe Buchman, State Rep. Chris Herrod. (AIP candidate Jason Christensen was off the far right edge of this screen capture from KUTV. Democratic candidate Dr. Kathie Allen declined the invitation. Unaffiliated and write-in candidates were not invited.)
While the Americans For Prosperity (AFP) hosted debate for the Third District US House election to be held 07 November 2017 in Utah was initially billed as a primary debate for the three Republicans who will face off on 15 August, subsequent news coverage indicated the Democratic candidate, Dr. Kathie Allen had been invited as well.
See THIS.
At 5:57PM Monday 10 July 2017, the night before the debate, Americans For Prosperity confirmed in an emailed response to candidate Joseph Buchman’s request to be included in what appeared to be a general election debate that indeed both the Democratic candidate and the three Republicans running in the primary had been invited, but that time constraints would prohibit inviting any other candidates.
An evening and overnight campaign culminated in an early morning request from LNC attorney Oliver Hall to include Buchman. Buchman received an invitation to the debate at 9:45AM with a request to be present at the venue eight hours later. American Independent Party candidate Jason Christenson was likewise invited and accepted.
The 90 minute debate can be viewed as a Facebook Video
(scroll to the 12 minute mark for opening remarks; 21 minutes in for opening statements)
Thanks Robert,
I’m all about learning how to get more effective at this. I’m far more interested in the critical (even hurtful but not designed to be so) comments than all the “you did great” that (while I also enjoy) doesn’t serve to make me a better candidate.
So with that context – THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
joe
Propers to Buchman. I had glanced at his website a few weeks ago, and I was underwhelmed, as my impression was it was too dogmatic.
However, I just viewed bits of his performance on this vid and I found him engaging, articulate, and — while the dogma was there — he was able to peddle it in a reasonable way.
For those IPR readers who watch the debate and who would like to share feedback on my performance directly, email is utahgoestoL @ gmail (dot) com.
Quoting the news coverage linked above:
“Democrat Kathie Allen … did not respond to an invitation to join the event, (UFP Utah Executive Director Evelyn) Everton said. Allen and her campaign staff, though, said they were not aware that she’d been asked to participate…. We’ve decided to debate whoever comes out as the Republican nominee (sic), Allen said.”
Translation: She declined the invitation at least 4 full days before I received an invitation.
About the (sic) – the Republican Convention nominee is former (R) Utah State Rep. Chris Herrod. He, Tanner Ainge and Provo Mayor John Curtis have a primary on 15 August 2017.
As I said in the debate, I am looking forward to knowing which of the three of them will join me on the November ballot – as well as in the General Election debates.
I would guess that the Democrat saw no point in participating in a forum hosted by AFP. But that’s just a guess. Maybe it was a schedule conflict.
A very positive development. There’s no indication, though, as to why the Democratic candidate was not there. The headline suggests she wasn’t.
Way to go, Joe!
The Independent American Party needs to get some better speakers.