'Clean Elections' Slow to Invite Green Party Candidates to Debate
Questions remain as to whether remaining candidates will be invited to debates.
Eight Arizona Green Party candidates have won their party’s primary and will advance to the General Election, yet despite being officially placed on the state ballot, five have been notably absent from scheduled debates hosted by the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (AZCCEC).
The three Green Party candidates slated to debate are: Cody Hannah, who is running for State House Legislative District 13; Scott Manor, who is running for State House Legislative District 14; and Tre Rook, who is running for State House Legislative District 18.
These invitations, absent from the discourse for over a week, have come only within the last 24 hours, and followed numerous media inquiries into this issue and social media outcry from the public and notable figures like Republican Kari Lake — an indication that the commission is aware of the issue and trying to remedy the problem.
“For a ‘nonpartisan’ organization to blatantly not include ‘Greens’ is deeply undemocratic and favors the duopoly candidates,” said Hannah.
As of Thursday, the rest are not listed as even being invited to participate in any debates, all according to the commission’s own website, leading some to believe that the “nonpartisan” commission is in practice, acting in a biased manner.
The Green Party confirms this current slate. The most pressing debate for the Green Party is for the U.S. Senate seat, as their candidate Eduardo Quintana seeks to run against and debate Democrat Ruben Gallego and Lake.
“Clean Elections said that Gallego would first have to agree to (include) Quintana in the debate as well,” according to Lake’s campaign, causing some to wonder why the approval authority for a third-party candidate to debate is his opposing candidate and not the clean elections commission itself.
Lake welcomes the opportunity to debate both Gallego and Quintana.
“The deliberate refusal by AZCCEC to include Green Party candidates is voter suppression and an affront to the concept of a free, fair and equal democracy. Our candidates won their primaries and made it onto the General Election ballot fair and square, and without taking thousands of dollars from corporations and special-interest groups… not including the Green Party candidates is meant to keep voter turnout for our party low and silence our voices,” said a spokesperson for the Arizona Green Party.
The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission was established by the Citizens Clean Elections Act of 1998 (known as Proposition 200) as a nonpartisan state agency that provides public campaign funds for qualified candidates, sets campaign contribution and spending limits, mandates reporting requirements, and enables public debate.
These are the five Green Party candidates snubbed out of scheduled debates:
● Eduardo Quintana (candidate for the U.S. Senate)
● Vincent Beck-Jones (candidate for the U.S. Rep. CD4)
● Athena Eastwood (candidate for the U.S. Rep. CD6)
● Mike Cease (candidate for the Arizona Corporation Commission)
● Nina Luxenberg (candidate for the Arizona Corporation Commission)
I have repeatedly reached out by phone and email asking the commission why these candidates have been excluded. The commission has not responded to my inquiries
.