Kaptur shuns debates

SANDUSKY — With the general election only a few weeks away, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, has turned down debate invitations from the Register and Toledo Blade. This is not new. Kaptur has been avoiding debates with her Republican opponents since 2016. She did participate in at least one debate in 2014. Kaptur's campaign manager, Alexandra Wilcox, said Kaptur was "eager to participate in an open and honest exchange of ideas and the only way that can happen is if (state Rep. Derek) Merrin agrees to return the millions of dollars (House Speaker) Mike Johnson has steered toward his campaign or convinces his string-puller to bring the bipartisan border fix legislation up for a vote." Kaptur's Republican opponent, Merrin, R-Monclova Township, issued a statement in response to the Register's inquiry. "I'm disappointed that Marcy Kaptur is turning her back on the traditional exchange of policy ideas and civil discourse that our country was founded on by refusing to join the Toledo Blade-sponsored debate I accepted on Sept. 16," Merrin said. "The people of Ohio's 9th Congressional District are owed a respectful exchange so that they can go into the voting booth well-informed. I remain open to debating Marcy and will assess further debates if Marcy agrees to join us on Oct. 17 for the Blade/Buckeye Cable debate," he said. The Register, which sets up debates in every election year, was unable to obtain a debate commitment from Kaptur or her Republican opponent, state Rep. Derek Merrin, R-Monclova Township. The Register also was unable to obtain debates between Kaptur and her GOP opponent in 2022, when J.R. Majewski ran against her; in 2020, when the opponent was Ron Weber, and in 2018, when the opponent was Steve Kraus. In 2016, Kaptur turned down a Cleveland City Club debate with GOP opponent Donald Larson. She debated her 2014 Republican opponent, Richard May, at the City Club. After the Toledo Blade got Merrin to agree to a debate, it sought for weeks to get Kaptur to respond. The Blade finally set a deadline and Kaptur said no. Wilcox stated Merrin was not a serious candidate. The Blade debate would have been televised live on Buckeye Cablevision. In an editorial criticizing Kaptur's decision, the Blade wrote, "The voters are the losers, thanks to Ms. Kaptur's unfortunate refusal to meet her opponent in a neutral debate setting." A Toledo Blade editor, Tom Troy, was unable to find any record that Kaptur debated in Toledo in recent years. "I find that she debated Samuel 'Joe' Wurzelbacher in 2012 and Rich Iott in 2010, both on Channel 13," Troy wrote in an email. "I recall her and Wurzelbacher debating in Sandusky." Kaptur, 78, won her first race for the U.S. House in 1982. She is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, which has allowed her to steer federal money to her district.