Slotkin accepts two invitations to Senate debates, rejects task force proposal

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin will not participate in three debates organized by the new Michigan Debate Task Force this fall, instead agreeing to two televised debates in October in Detroit and Grand Rapids, her campaign said.

The team of three-term Congresswoman Holly announced Tuesday that she had accepted invitations from WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids to a debate on October 9 and from WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) in Detroit to a debate on October 14.

Campaign spokesman Austin Cook confirmed to The Detroit News that these two debates are general election debates in which Slotkin is participating, “fully adhering to the precedent of past statewide elections.”

“Representative Slotkin looks forward to taking the debate stage and giving voters a clear picture of both candidates and their very different visions for Michigan’s future,” Cook said in a statement.

“This is consistent with previous statewide elections in Michigan, and we are pleased that both debates will be nationally televised so voters in all parts of Michigan can participate. We hope to see Mike Rogers there.”

The campaign of Republican candidate Rogers of White Lake Township did not immediately commit to participating in the WOOD-TV or WXYZ debates Tuesday.

The Rogers campaign has not declined invitations from the Michigan Debate Task Force to three debates in Michigan this fall: Sept. 12 at the studios of WXMI-TV (Fox 17) in Grand Rapids; Oct. 10 at Milliken Auditorium at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City; and Oct. 22 at the Sound Board Theater at the Motor City Casino in Detroit. Rogers previously told The Detroit News that he would “absolutely attend all three debates.”

“Mike Rogers looks forward to debating Slotkin and exposing her long and consistent history of prioritizing personal ambitions at the expense of Michigan workers,” said Rogers spokesman Chris Gustafson. “We will share more as we work to ensure as many voters as possible across Michigan have the opportunity to tune in.”

Rogers’ campaign had previously indicated that the former seven-term congressman would debate Slotkin “anytime, anywhere.”

Invitations to the task force debates were sent out immediately after Slotkin and Rogers won their respective primaries on August 6.

Dave Dulio, a political science professor at Oakland University and one of the task force organizers, said Slotkin’s campaign team has not responded.

The task force debates are scheduled so that the first will take place before mail-in ballots are sent out, the second before the start of the nine-day in-person voting period, and the final two weeks before Election Day on November 5.

The task force includes universities, chambers of commerce and the Urban Leagues of Detroit and Western Michigan, among others.

The group is working with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters to distribute a feed of all three debates across the state and make it available to news outlets in any media market that wants to broadcast or stream them, said Dulio, director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Oakland University.

One of the intentions behind the task force’s proposal earlier this year, organizers said, was to shift control over the rules, timing and format of debates away from political campaigns, who tend to prefer a more controlled environment and fewer debates, and instead place control in the hands of a neutral entity in Michigan that will prioritize disseminating higher-quality information to the general public.

“We want to take control of that away from the candidates and really focus on the common good, on providing information in a way that is unfiltered and unadulterated,” Dulio said this month.

The task force also saw an excellent opportunity in a head-to-head race for an open Senate seat, where no incumbent could try to avoid debate with his opponents. The Senate seat is up for grabs because longtime U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Lansing, is retiring.

The working group has set up a website, www.MichiganDebates.org, where Michigan residents can submit questions or topics they would like to discuss during the debates. All candidates on the general election ballot who meet certain criteria will receive invitations to participate in the debates.

The criteria include a result of at least 5% in two public and independent national polls in the month before the debate.

The task force’s initiative is partly a response to the decline in the frequency of Senate debates in contested election campaigns nationally, according to an October 2022 study by the Brookings Institution. In some cases, the debates or forums that do take place are presented to a specialized audience or are distributed only on a limited scale across the state.

In 2020, there was no debate between Senator Gary Peters (Democrat, Bloomfield Township) and Republican candidate John James. Peters defeated James 49.9% to 48.2%, a margin of 92,000 votes.

In 2018, Stabenow and James debated before 800 people hosted by the Detroit Economic Club, and there was another televised face-off at Grand Valley State University. Stabenow won 52% to 46%.

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