The plans for a Oct. 1 faceoff between gubernatorial candidates John Cox and Gavin Newsom, hosted by CNN has been called off.
According to a network source, Newsom had agreed to the debate while Cox had not confirmed his commitment. Cox did however agree to four other debates that Newsom declined and said last week that he would only debate with Newsom on CNN "if it focused on housing, cost of living, water and other California-specific issues, and if a California journalist was included as a moderator."
Newsom's campaign pointed fingers at Cox and said the Republican candidate was trying to limit the scope of questions asked.
A new potential debate venue has emerged in San Francisco, hosted by public radio station KQED. Newsom has accepted the station's invitation and KQED is working to secure a date.
Newsom's campaign released this in a statement Tuesday,
“Gavin has said a number of times on the campaign trail that he wants to debate ahead of election day, as he has nine times previously in this campaign. That's why our campaign has accepted a debate invitation from KQED radio, one of the last outstanding debate requests that neither campaign has rejected. If Cox is serious about debating, he should accept this final debate offer."
However, the Cox campaign says it's up to Newsom whether the two rival candidates will end up meeting for a debate.
Cox Campaign spokesman Matt Shupe said,
“Newsom never really wanted to talk to forgotten Californians — but now he has to, because he’s flailing in the polls. We’re glad to see Newsom finally accept debates we’ve been proposing for two months.”
Listen below to what John Cox had to say about this on the John and Ken show Wednesday,
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