LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) – Voters in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District won’t hear from their candidates on a debate stage this election cycle, part of a larger trend of candidates eschewing the traditional debates.
People will instead have to learn about them on their own and from the myriad political advertisements echoing over the airwaves.
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“You know it’s kind of interesting,” Brad Pfaff, the Democrat running to represent the district, said with a laugh when asked about one ad that uses his last name like an expletive.
People have to take each ad with a grain of salt.
“They pronounced my name right,” Pfaff said. “Give them credit for that.”
The district became an open seat after Ron Kind called it a career after 25 years.
“What’s going on in Washington makes a big difference,” said Joe Heim, a La Crosse political analyst and former political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Candidates normally take their platform to a professional environment where journalists ask real questions so voters get authentic answers from the people who might represent them. However, one of these candidates will not debate.
Republican candidate Derrick Van Orden declined Democrat Brad Pfaff’s challenge to a debate. Van Orden’s campaign has said he would agree to a town hall debate, but nothing has been organized.
“Candidates don’t always want everybody to know exactly where they stand on issues,” Heim said.
Van Orden also turned down a candidate interview with LeaderEthics Wisconsin.
“Four or five times they tried to contact Van Orden,” Heim said. “Never got a response.”
Heim would know. He serves on the board. Van Orden’s sizable lead in likely voter polls could explain Van Orden’s silence.
“If your candidate is well ahead, why gamble and do a debate?” Heim said.
Nationwide — candidates of both parties are pulling away from the traditional debate platform. Republican Kari Lake running for governor in Arizona is blasting her Democratic opponent for doing the same.
“I would love it if she would show up because I think there’s a lot of important issues that the people of Arizona need to hear about,” Lake told CBS News’s Face the Nation.
In this year’s top five Senate races, there’s been only six debates compared to 17 in 2010. However, Van Orden’s social media offers plenty of words. Van Orden holds town hall events where his supporters ask questions.
“They may not ask the right questions to be blunt,” Heim said.
This leaves out other issues. Heim said he would like to hear candidates argue themselves, like Van Orden’s presence in Washington D.C. during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“Yes. You’d like to hear it from the person’s mouth directly how they explain it,” Heim said.
Heim would like to know more about Pfaff’s life.
“I’d like to know his background more before he entered politics,” Heim said.
He likened it to a job interview.
“They had to share kind of a vision of how they see themselves in the role that they’re applying for,” Pfaff said.
Voters will have to rely on their own knowledge.
“They’re the losers. That’s the sad part of it,” Heim said. “We don’t know enough about the candidates without having things like debates.”
Heim asked how can voters trust their representation in Washington when half of their neighbors’ questions are ignored.
“You are not a dictator,” Heim said. “You’re one of 535 people. I think debates provide a service for people.”
Van Orden’s campaign did not respond to News 8 Now’s request for an interview.
Since there will not be a debate here is information on both candidates for voters leading up to Nov. 8.
- Candidate websites – Derrick Van Orden – Brad Pfaff
- vote411.org breaks down your ballot with information on each candidate.
- myvote.wi.us is the recommended resource by La Crosse area elections leaders
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