In my Monday column, I joked about the possibility of holding a special election and nobody coming out to vote.
It was in reference to the special election set to fill the 161st state House seat vacated by Joe Hackett.
Maybe I asked the wrong question.
What if they held a debate and nobody came?
Well, that's true for at least one of the candidates.
In case you haven't been paying attention, here are the three candidates: Republican Paul Mullen is facing Democrat Leanne Krueger-Braneky and write-in candidate Lisa Esler.
We have learned that Mullen, citing scheduling problems, has indicated he will not attend either of two candidate forums this week.
You can get all the details here.
The League of Women Voters actually scrapped their forum, which would have featured Mullen and Krueger-Braneky, after failing to hear back after repeated overtures to Mullen. The League says they do not invite candidates who are not on the ballot. Since Esler is running a write-in campaign, she was not included in their event.
But a group called Delco Debates is holding a public forum on Sunday for all three candidates.
Mullen says he won't be able to make that one either.
The guess here is that Mullen wants no part of sharing a stage with Esler, since her write-in campaign is very likely to cost him votes.
That prompted the Krueger-Braneky camp to fire off a press release yesterday challenging Mullen to a debate.
Despite Democrats now outnumbering Republicans in the county, in the 161st District the GOP still holds the advantage. I'm sure Mullen is simply banking on the Party being able to get their faithful to the polls and deliver a win, no muss, no fuss. And certainly no debating.
I hope Krueger-Braneky is not holding her breath waiting for a response.
For the Mullen camp, the "Sounds of Silence" could stand as their campaign jingle.
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