Several gubernatorial candidates have joined in on Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle‘s invitation to debate Gov. Kay Ivey.
Battle sent his request via e-mail to Ivey’s team on Tuesday, and although they acknowledged they received the invitation, as of Friday Ivey’s team had yet to deliver a response.
Other candidates have joined Battle’s call on Ivey, “I’m ready to debate anytime, anywhere,” Semmes- Republican Sen. Bill Hightower told AL.com. “I’ve got some great ideas I want to tell Alabama about. So everybody’s talking about it but I’m ready to do it…I will do it on my own if nobody else does it. I think I’ve got the best ideas…I’ve been in Montgomery for only a few years but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see we haven’t had leadership.”
“Everyone says they want a debate,” evangelist Scott Dawson said in the same report. “So if you say you’re going to debate, then the next step is actually debating.”
“We do not have an elected governor at this stage. We have a selected governor because our previous governor was removed. So I think all of Alabama deserves to hear all four candidates on the platform to share their ideas and their vision instead of being dictated by other people.”
Battle, Hightower and Dawson all agreed that debates would be good for the state. However, no actual debates have been formed.
Ivey’s campaign told The Associated Press last month that she would be “happy to discuss her record” in a debate setting.
Battle has committed to attend the following events, and hopes that Ivey will also attend:
- April 12 – 7 a.m.: A debate hosted by the Birmingham Business Journal
- April 12 – 7 p.m.: A debate hosted by NBC 13 in Birmingham
- April 14 – 8 a.m.: A candidate forum hosted by the Mid Alabama Republican Club in Birmingham
- May 9 – 2 p.m.: A candidate forum hosted by the Association of Builders and Contractors in Huntsville
- May 10 – 11:30 a.m.: A candidate forum hosted by the Moody Area Chamber of Commerce
