TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The future of Florida general election debates are unclear as we head toward November. <\/p>\n
Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly declined all general election debates with Republican candidate Byron Donalds on Sunday. <\/p>\n
Jolly cited the current campaign environment and Donalds \u201cbad faith.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is clear, given the tenor of the current campaign environment, including Byron\u2019s repeated lies and bad faith, that debates this cycle would not create constructive, honest conversation and only further stoke division, animosity, and bad will. That\u2019s not something I wish to do for out state,\u201d Jolly said in a press release. <\/p>\n
According to that press release, Jolly said he accepted multiple debates before this week that Donalds declined. <\/p>\n
Florida Politics<\/p>\n
On Monday, Donalds released a statement saying Jolly\u2019s decision to not debate is \u201cdodging having to defend his too far left positions.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe can understand why Jolly wouldn\u2019t want to get up and defend his crazy liberal agenda in a debate,\u201d Donalds\u2019s statement read. \u201cIt\u2019s because his campaign is too far Left and too expensive for Florida. <\/p>\n
Just before Jolly\u2019s announcement on Sunday, Florida A&M University announced they would be hosting a statewide gubernatorial debate. <\/p>\n
The debate, which would have been in partnership with Spectrum News, was scheduled to be one hour and live-streamed across the state. <\/p>\n
The university is now working to determine if the debate can continue in any capacity.<\/p>\n
Two political science professors we spoke to said the decision to decline all debates was an odd one.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to know that they can actually perform at that level. So I don\u2019t think the nature of it is in general mostly performative, but performance is important in politics,\u201d said Dr. Lonna Atkeson, Director of the LeRoy Collins Institute at FSU. <\/p>\n
During the primary campaign, it was Donalds, not Jolly, refusing to debate. Now the situation is reversed, and we\u2019ll have to wait and see how voters react.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, the person seen as the \u201cunderdog\u201d in a race would want to debate, experts say. After all, Florida has more than a million more registered Republicans than Democrats, but the importance of debates is falling.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless it\u2019s something really catchy and intriguing and at a place that\u2019s so interesting, there probably isn\u2019t going to be a huge demand from the media to press these candidates to have (a debate),\u201d said Susan MacManus, a professor emeritus at the University of South Florida.<\/p>\n
Atkeson said Jolly\u2019s reason for not debating wasn\u2019t very strong.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s a very valid excuse for not debating. I mean, politics is filled with a lack of clarity and disingenuous feelings on both sides,\u201d Atkeson said.<\/p>\n
Still, MacManus said there is a school of thought that advocates against debating.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne is that if you\u2019re behind, but you think you can make up time and the debate may take away from your time, then you say, \u2018I don\u2019t want to do it,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnytime you are offered to do something of that nature and you say no, it does look to a lot of people like you\u2019re dodging.\u201d<\/p>\n
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