Griffith declines proposal for debates across the Ninth
The invitation called for “mutually agreed-upon locations, moderators, and formats, with questions coming directly from voters across the district.”
On Friday, Joy Powers’ (D-Bedford) campaign announced that Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-Salem) has declined to participate in debates across the Ninth District ahead of November’s election.
Powers and her team proposed a total of three debates on Aug. 24 — one in far Southwest Virginia, one in the New River Valley, and one on “the eastern end” of the Ninth District, according to the release shared on Friday, Sept. 4. The invitation called for “mutually agreed-upon locations, moderators, and formats, with questions coming directly from voters across the district.”
Griffith declined via a letter, which was included in the release from Powers’ campaign, that read in full:
“Thank you for your letter. The people of the Ninth District already know where I stand.
“I have spent years in this district, in person, answering to the people who sent me to Congress — not in carefully staged forums built around a single vote taken out of context. You are welcome to discuss that record as often as you like. I intend to keep making my case the same way I always have: face to face, town to town, county to county.
“On the substance, since you raised it: I will not apologize for supporting a law that lowers costs, secures our border, unleashes American energy, and puts money back in the pockets of the working families of this district — rather than the tax increases, energy restrictions, and bigger government you would bring to Washington in my place.
“I do not need a jointly negotiated format to tell voters what I believe. They already know. I would rather spend the fall listening to them and fighting for them than trading rehearsed lines with you on a stage. I wish you and your team safe travels as you campaign across the district.”
Griffith has represented the Commonwealth's Ninth District since 2011.
Powers said holding a debate is something they both owe “to the people asking us to represent them.” She added that Griffith’s claims do not answer the questions she hears from voters across the district. “Why has federal spending continued to balloon on his watch? Why is he so determined to bring massive data centers into Southwest Virginia? And if Congressman Griffith says the legislation he has supported is really lowering costs, why aren’t families here feeling it?”
Powers also said that while Griffith called the proposed debates "staged," she calls it "accountability."
"After 16 years in Washington, he should be able to stand in front of the people he represents and answer for his record,” she said.
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