With less than six weeks remaining before Kentucky voters make their way to the polls, Senate candidates Rand Paul and Jim Gray have yet to debate. And the Democratic challenger has been working to make the incumbent’s still-unconfirmed schedule into a campaign issue.
"I’ve agreed to do the debates and it’s regrettable and it’s unfortunate for the people of Kentucky that Sen. Paul still has not agreed to do a debate," the Lexington mayor said. "He’s neglecting to recognize that this is all about the democratic process and engaging the people and engaging in debates is all part of that. So I’m very disappointed that he has shown an unwillingness to face the people and debate."
But Gray has turned down at least one possible joint event – a debate on foreign policy issues hosted by Bluegrass Community and Technical College this Friday. The Paul campaign has an open invitation. For now, spokesperson Kelsey Cooper confirmed previous statements that the freshmen senator will debate sometime in the fall.
In response to Gray, Cooper charged that while Democratic contender is "more interested in distracting Kentucky voters with a conversation about debates to avoid discussing his support of Hillary Clinton and her anti-Kentucky agenda, Dr. Rand Paul has been focused on talking about the issues in his over 110 town halls across the Commonwealth and daily interviews with Kentucky media."
The candidates will again be making separate appearances before the same group in the coming week, with Gray addressing Commerce Lexington on Friday and Paul taking his turn before the chamber the following Tuesday.
