Roberts

Three candidates for Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District will participate in an in-studio debate hosted by Bend television station KTVZ.

Jamie McLeod-Skinner, the Democrat running against 10-term Republican incumbent Greg Walden in the congressional district that covers most of Central, Eastern and Southern Oregon, has been pushing for a debate for months and publicly challenged Walden to a set of three debates, one in each region, when the two met during the Chief Joseph Days Parade in July.

Walden so far agreed only to a single televised debate at 7 p.m. Oct. 5. It will last an hour and include Walden, McLeod-Skinner and Independent Party of Oregon candidate Mark Roberts, who is running without the support of his party.

The television station will accept public questions submitted through a form on its website and will stream the debate online, but it won’t allow an in-studio audience.

Other organizations, including the League of Women Voters, the Bend Chamber of Commerce and the Central Oregon Association of Realtors, are hosting live debates with audiences for local and state races in Deschutes County.

And the City Club of Central Oregon, an organization that hosts monthly discussion forums, volunteered to host a debate for the 2nd District.

Nichole van Eikeren, a spokeswoman for the McLeod-Skinner campaign, said the League of Women Voters and City Club both offered to host debates in Bend on Oct. 5, but Walden didn’t respond to the invitations.

“My understanding is still if everyone said yes, the City Club would throw a debate together on Oct. 5,” she said.

She said McLeod-Skinner still hopes to debate Walden in Southern and Eastern Oregon.

McLeod-Skinner’s campaign said voters would be concerned about KTVZ’s impartiality because leaders of the Missouri-based company that owns the Bend television station have contributed to Walden’s campaign.

The company’s flagship product, the St. Joseph (Missouri) News-Press, was also one of a handful of newspapers that endorsed President Donald Trump in 2016, and its CEO, who donated to Walden, has been a vocal supporter of Trump.

— Reporter: 541-633-2160; jshumway@bendbulletin.com