Democrat Ted Lieu Won’t Debate Republican Opponent

Democrat Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) is refusing to debate his Republican opponent, Dr. Kenneth Wright, in the race for California’s 33rd congressional district.

The League of Women Voters of the Beach Cities had invited both Lieu and Wright to a candidate forum on October 9, but Lieu declined the invitation. The League then canceled the portion of that forum dealing with the congressional race, since it refuses to hold candidate forums in which only one side participates.

In an email published by the Wright campaign, a local League of Women Voters official explained to him: “Your opponent is not able to attend and therefore there will not be a forum for the Congressional candidates.”

The Wright campaign said in a statement: “Lieu continues to be absent from all candidate debates and forums with challenger Dr. Kenneth Wright who is running for the second time. For the last two elections, Ted Lieu has not shown up for any of the five public debates sponsored by the League of Women voters and Palos Verdes Chamber of Commerce.”
Wright added, in a comment:

I showed for the events but never had the opportunity to debate my opponent.  Shouldn’t the people have the right to hear what the candidates stand for?  Ted Lieu’s refusal to participate disrespects us the voters and undermines the Democratic process. We need to ask ourselves, why is Ted Lieu hiding his record from the people.  Unfortunately not allowing me to speak and eliminating the Congressional part form the Candidate Forum conceals the fact that Lieu will not face the people.  The people should know.

Lieu, who has established himself as Congress’s foremost anti-Trump twitter troll, has represented the district since 2015. It includes some of the most expensive real estate in Los Angeles, stretching from Malibu in the west to Rancho Palos Verdes in the south.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.