Debates on tap for congressional seats

Voters in eastern Kansas will get plenty of chances to compare incumbent Rep. Nancy Boyda and her challenger Lynn Jenkins, the state treasurer.Boyda, a Democrat, has proposed four town hall-style debates in September and October. Jenkins, a Republican who defeated former Congressman Jim Ryun in the August primary, has proposed a schedule of five debates beginning Sept. 27 with the AARP Candidate Debate in Pittsburg. Other proposals include debates in Leavenworth, Mahattan and two in Topeka, including one by KTKA 49 ABC News, LJWorld.com, the Lawrence Journal-World and 6News Lawrence.The two campaigns still need to hammer out the official details. The district includes western Lawrence, western Douglas County and most of eastern Kansas, including Manhattan, Topeka and Pittsburg.”This is an important election, and both of us are going to make our case to Kansas voters of what direction we want to go, and I know Lynn wants to do that,” said Josh Hersh, a spokesman for the Jenkins campaign.Thomas Seay, a Boyda spokesman, said it was a good sign the two candidates were planning several chances to be on stage together to talk about issue.”These debates are a great opportunity to continue that thoughtful campaign,” he said.In the race for a U.S. Senate seat, Democratic challenger Jim Slattery said today that Republican Sen. Pat Roberts needed to agree to four more debates – one in each congressional district.Roberts, who is seeking his third term, announced in July that he would appear at a televised debate Sept. 6 at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson. Two other debates are planned before the Kansas Association of Broadcasters Oct. 14 in Wichita and the Johnson County Public Policy Council and Kansas City, Kan., Chamber of Commerce Oct. 15 in Overland Park.But Slattery appeared outside Roberts’ Wichita district office saying the incumbent senator needed to participate in four televised debates about issues in Dodge City, Topeka, Kansas City, Kan., and Wichita.”It’s time Roberts stepped out from behind his slick television advertisements and engaged in real and thoughtful debates about the issues important to Kansans and the future of our country,” Slattery said.Slattery said Roberts has only agreed to one debate – at the state fair – that will be televised and open to the public.The Roberts campaign said he has agreed to the same number of debates as in the presidential campaign and that the planned debates will get extensive media and public attention.”It’s odd that a candidate who refused to debate his primary opponent even once would now say three debates are not enough. Sen. Roberts looks forward to discussing the issues affecting Kansans,” said Molly Haase, a Roberts campaign spokeswoman.