Dupage Policy Journal

Republican Congressional candidate Jeanne Ives thinks there’s a good reason why Rep. Sean Casten (D-Illinois) is strongly resisting committing to an adequate debate schedule in their 6th Congressional District showdown.

“He has been able to hide his progressive voting record and doesn’t want me to expose it in debate,” Ives told the DuPage Policy Journal.

According to the Ives’ camp, thus far the Democratic lawmaker has only expressed interest in participating in one debate, a televised League of Women Voters event that will include groups from all five counties in the district.

“We are asking for a fair and open debate to give voters a chance to get past the headlines, media spin and 60-second soundbites to hear a full vetting of the candidates’ records and ideas,” Ives added.

Historically, the League of Women Voters relies on a format in which each candidate is posed a question and given one minute to respond. Ives doesn't believe that format enables candidates to provide an adequate response.

“It is essentially an opportunity for candidates to recite talking points without having to go into specifics about their policy choices or their records,” the Ives campaign added in a press statement. “Jeanne is happy to join the forum to give her general ideas about different issues, if that’s all they want. But it isn’t a debate.”

With everything now happening in Illinois, supporters of the former Republican state representative argue voters deserve to know as much as they can about where the candidates stand on the most pressing issue.

This is an extremely consequential election cycle,” the release added. “It isn’t enough to tick through a few toplines and move on. For Sean Casten’s campaign to say otherwise just shows his disrespect for and disinterest in the impact government has on the lives of those he represents.”