FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Amy Wojcicki, Communications Director
amy [at] dpo [dot] org
(503) 239-8636
Chris Dudley has already dodged a debate organized by Oregon newspapers – and now he is skipping a debate in front of Oregon's mayors.
This Friday, the Oregon Mayors Association was scheduled to host a gubernatorial debate. Democrat John Kitzhaber accepted the invitation outright. Republican Chris Dudley declined – again. This time Dudley refused to show up to the debate, agreeing to show up after Kitzhaber had left the building.
It is clear that Dudley thinks he can get away with skipping past the job interview portion of the campaign. So far he has relied on paid advertisements, refusing to discuss his policy positions. Dudley doesn’t seem to understand that Oregon needs a governor with solutions – not media buys.
Susan Nielsen of The Oregonian wrote after we found out Dudley was less than honest about why he missed the last debate, “it's off-putting in a bad economy for a rich candidate to appear rather casual about his job hunt. Many Oregon voters are either clinging to their jobs or pounding the pavement looking for work, and Dudley dodges a debate (essentially a job interview) without being forthright about the reasons why?”
“Oregonians demand better of our candidates. If Chris Dudley is afraid to debate the issues in a campaign, why should voters trust that he will know what to fight for as governor,” said Meredith Wood Smith, Chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon. “And if he isn’t ready to show up and debate in fro nt of the press or Oregon’s mayors, what exactly is he prepared for?”
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