U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins

Margie Wakefield

Voters in the 2nd congressional district should get several opportunities to see the candidates for the House seat debate before the Nov. 4 general election.

Incumbent Lynn Jenkins, a Republican, put out an email Wednesday calling for three debates with Democrat Margie Wakefield, a Lawrence attorney.

In the email, Jenkins defends her political positions, criticizes Wakefield’s and says, “Ms. Wakefield, I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to debate the issues with you so that the voters of the Second District may learn about our stances on the topics that affect them every day.”

Meanwhile, Wakefield’s campaign manager Mark Sump said of Jenkins, “We’re happy she has accepted our challenge that we made months ago. We need to have a grown-up conversation about important issues.”

On May 27, Wakefield had called for debates “early and often” after Jenkins had filed for re-election.

In addition, Libertarian Chris Clemmons of Shawnee, who will also be on the ballot, has said he wants to participate in candidate debates.

“Many incumbents and challengers of the two-party system will claim that there is no point in participating in a debate with third parties as they have no chance of actually winning, all the while realizing that their choice in barring us from the debates is one of the reasons why we have such difficulty,” Clemmons said.

On Tuesday, Jenkins, a three-term member who is the fifth ranking GOP leader in the House, easily won the primary race, 69 percent to 31 percent, over tea party challenger Joshua Joel Tucker. Wakefield was unopposed on the Democratic side.

The district covers eastern Kansas outside the Kansas City-metro area, and includes the cities of Lawrence, Topeka, Leavenworth and Pittsburg.