Pryor, Cotton agree to TV debate

Oct. 14 event at UA to be broadcast live; a 2nd is possible

FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2013, file photo, Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., attends a Veterans Day observance in Little Rock, Ark. Pryor says he will vote against the bill to raise the federal minimum wage, which would gradually boost the minimum wage from $7.25 hourly to $10.10 by 2016. But he says he may oppose GOP efforts to derail it before debate even begins. Arkansas has high unemployment and weak labor unions. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2013, file photo, Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., attends a Veterans Day observance in Little Rock, Ark. Pryor says he will vote against the bill to raise the federal minimum wage, which would gradually boost the minimum wage from $7.25 hourly to $10.10 by 2016. But he says he may oppose GOP efforts to derail it before debate even begins. Arkansas has high unemployment and weak labor unions. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)

Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor and Republican challenger U.S. Rep Tom Cotton have agreed to debate after months of haggling over format, topics and television outlets.

Cotton signed on Thursday to a live televised debate that will be broadcast at 7 p.m. Oct. 14 by Little Rock's KATV, Jonesboro's KAIT and Northwest Arkansas stations KHBS/KHOG. The one-hour debate will take place at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and is sponsored by that city's Chamber of Commerce.

Originally, organizers had tried to limit the debate to three topics but agreed to discuss other issues after Cotton objected.

Pryor already had agreed to the KATV debate, as well as a second debate on AETN public television.

The candidates and their campaigns have fought over when, where and what to debate for months, with neither willing to accept invitations to the debates the other had accepted.

Cotton's campaign had previously agreed to debates sponsored by KARK-TV in Little Rock, the Northeast Arkansas Political Animals Club, Fox News Sunday in Washington, D.C., and KFSM-TV in Fort Smith. Cotton also issued a challenge to Pryor in April, asking him to face off in a series of five Lincoln-Douglas style debates without a moderator, without a panel of questioners and with a longer response format than standard debates today.

At least one more debate is being considered by both campaigns.

Cotton told California syndicated radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt on Monday that he was in the process of finalizing two debates.

Cotton's campaign spokesman David Ray said Thursday that the candidate is considering a second debate to be televised statewide on AETN scheduled for Oct. 13, but still has questions about the panelists and the format.

"We are pleased that after months of ducking debates and running from reporters, the voters will finally have an opportunity to hear Senator Pryor defend his record of rubber-stamping President Obama's agenda over 90 percent of the time," Ray wrote in an emailed statement Thursday.

Pryor's campaign said it is glad the Oct. 14 debate will touch on a broad range of issues.

The hour will "include a range of domestic issues that Congressman Cotton has refused to answer for, like why he voted against the Violence Against Women Act or why he voted to slash funds for Arkansas Children's Hospital," said Erik Dorey, Pryor's deputy campaign manager.

In his interview with Hewitt, Cotton accused Pryor of having "specifically excluded health care as a topic of debate."

Cotton's campaign said it was able to expand the list of topics included in the Fayetteville chamber's debate questions in its news release Thursday, but said Pryor would not agree to talk about foreign policy matters as part of the event.

"Arkansas' 6,000 active duty military personnel, 4,000 military civilians, and approximately 250,000 veterans deserve an explanation from Senator Pryor as to why he doesn't think our nation's defense or national security are worthy of debate in a race for the U.S. Senate," Ray wrote.

Pryor's campaign said Thursday that the senator did not object to any topics.

"If Congressman Cotton would accept the public television debate in Conway, there will absolutely be time to discuss important matters of foreign policy. If he wants to discuss things outside of those topics proposed by the Fayetteville chamber, maybe he should stop ducking the debate by AETN."

An emailed invitation from Steve Clark, the Fayetteville chamber president and chief executive officer, in July listed the three topics of debate as education, transportation and job creation/economic development.

In his interview with Hewitt, Cotton noted that Clark is a former staff member of Pryor's father, former U.S. Sen. David Pryor, and questioned the connection between him and the campaign. Clark served as Arkansas' attorney general from 1979 to 1990, but the Democrat resigned after being convicted of felony theft by deception for using a state-issued credit card to pay for more than $8,000 in personal expenses. He was pardoned by Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2004.

Metro on 09/12/2014

Upcoming Events