Politics
‘A two-edge sword’: Former top ICE official’s campaign roils battleground district
Republicans in Ohio are worried that a former administration official who helped oversee President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration tactics could cost them a chance to flip a battleground House district in November.
The GOP has its best chance in years to oust longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur from her Toledo-area seat after the Ohio Legislature redrew her district — which Kaptur won by less than 1 percent in 2024 — to be more favorable for Republicans last year.
But Madison Sheahan, who served as deputy director at Immigration and Customs Enforcement until she resigned to run for Congress earlier this year, has become the center of a contentious primary that GOP operatives in the state say could lead to the party squandering its chance to flip the seat.
At the heart of the concern is Sheahan’s role at ICE, where she helped lead the president’s sweeping immigration raids across the country — a high profile role that could be popular with Trump-friendly primary voters but toxic to a general electorate that has been critical of the immigration crackdown.
“Primary issues that help you win are a two-edge sword. They can help you in the primary, but they might pose challenges in the fall election,” said Ohio GOP strategist Terry Casey, who isn’t affiliated with any campaign in the primary. “There’s obviously [a] debate of what happened in Minnesota and some other things.”
Sheahan worked at ICE amid enforcement operations in major cities that triggered violent confrontations and protests. Those clashes culminated in the killing of two American citizens by immigration officials in Minneapolis. She launched her campaign days after the killing of Renee Good, but before the shooting death of Alex Pretti.
Even as her role as a top immigration official has buoyed her in the primary, her ties to the controversial shootings — which forced the Trump administration to recalibrate its approach on immigration — have opened her up to attacks from primary opponents.
And some Republicans think her record would make her a soft target for Kaptur in a general election battle.
“Republicans have this terrible impression — as I’m out there knocking on doors, ICE does come up a lot, and it’s really divided the country, even some Republicans,” Alea Nadeem, one of her primary challengers, said during an April debate in Toledo.
Sheahan’s campaign did not respond to an interview request but a campaign spokesperson dismissed the criticisms.
“Madison Sheahan’s opponents continue to push false narratives and baseless attacks as last-ditch efforts to save their failing campaigns,” spokesperson Robert Paduchik said. “Attacking her record of executing President Trump’s top priority to defend the homeland is a slap in the face to Ohioans who demanded closed borders and deportations.”
There’s been little public polling ahead of the May 5 primary, and Republicans in Washington are staying out of the primary. But that hasn’t stopped Sheahan from touting her ties to Trump and branding herself as the MAGA candidate in a bid to outflank the field, which includes former state Rep. Derek Merrin, who lost to Kaptur in 2024, state Rep. Josh Williams and Nadeem, an Air Force veteran.
Sheahan’s late entry into the race, months after the rest of the field started campaigning, caught Republicans in northeast Ohio off-guard, including Barbara Orange, the chair of the Lucas County Republican Party. Orange heads the largest GOP chapter in the district and is staying neutral in the primary.
“We were very surprised that she jumped in the race,” Orange said. “I’m not sure really why, but it is her right to do so, and we’ll just have to see how it plays out.”
For most of April, Sheahan was the only candidate running TV spots in the district. One of the ads highlights her role at ICE, including images of the president cut together with images of Sheahan in tactical gear and a voice-over pledging that Sheahan will “put America first.”
But that strategy is facing headwinds as Americans sour on Trump’s handling of immigration. A Blue Light News poll from April found 51 percent of Americans believe Trump’s mass deportation campaigns and his widespread deployment of ICE agents is too aggressive. But the same poll found that 70 percent of Trump voters feel Trump’s immigration policies are either about right or not aggressive enough.
Some of Sheahan’s Republican opponents have attacked her over the issue, even while stressing they remain supportive of Trump’s deportation goals. During that debate, Nadeem said she’s spoken to Republicans in the district who are concerned about ICE agents’ conduct, and called on the agency to conduct “additional training” so that “we can actually have a good message out here for Republicans.”
Williams has tailored his jabs to specifically criticize Sheahan’s role at the agency by suggesting she’s accountable for the Minnesota shootings.
“She left in the middle of a scandal that happened under her watch when she was there,” Williams told The Columbus Dispatch.
During the debate, he blamed the violent protests in Minnesota on the Trump administration’s initial inability to negotiate with state officials to allow ICE to take custody of immigrants in prisons and jails.
“Now the right people are in charge of ICE,” he said, seated feet away from Sheahan. “And we saw 80 county sheriffs in Minnesota sign on to allow us to get them out of the jails.”
Some Republicans in the state say Sheahan’s political career — which has taken place largely outside the Buckeye State — might alienate her from Ohio voters compared to other candidates with deeper roots in the region.
She grew up in Curtice, Ohio, and rowed crew at Ohio State University but worked for three years in Kristi Noem’s gubernatorial office in South Dakota and served a brief stint as head of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries before joining the Trump administration.
“She’s got the weakest links to the district,” said unaffiliated Ohio GOP strategist Bob Clegg.
Orange, the county party chair, questioned whether Sheahan’s experience could translate to serving Ohio but declined to elaborate to maintain her neutrality in the race.
“I know for sure we have two excellent candidates running in Derek Merrin and Josh Williams,” she said. “They’ve lived here their whole lives.”
Paduchik dismissed this criticism, saying “Sheahan and her family lived in this district for decades.”
If Sheahan survives the primary, she may do so bruised by her opponents’ jabs and with a depleted campaign treasury ahead of the general. She reported having $67,000 in the bank in mid-April, according to Federal Election Commission filings, less than Nadeem, Merrin and Williams. But no GOP candidate came close to Kaptur’s $3.1 million in cash on hand.
That war chest could offer Kaptur a chance to capitalize on the attacks on Sheahan’s immigration record, strategists said, a tactic already being employed by her primary opponents.
“I would assume that Marcy will use that as an issue,” Clegg said. “I mean, she could have a big problem with it.”
Democrats’ top Senate-focused super PAC will report raising $354 million through Oct. 14 — including roughly $88 million in the first two weeks of the month— as Democrats race to seize control of the upper chamber in the election’s closing weeks.
Senate Majority PAC shared their fundraising totals, which are higher than any previous cycle, with Blue Light News ahead of a Federal Election Commission deadline later Thursday. The super PAC had $32.7 million in the bank as of Oct. 14.
“This is already the strongest cycle in Senate Majority PAC’s history, and it’s arriving exactly when it counts,” SMP spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement. “We’re on the air across the battleground through Election Day, and every dollar is going toward beating price-gouging Republicans and winning back the Senate.”
That’s more than the $306 million SMP raised in the 2024 campaign cycle, according to FEC filings, its previous high.
SMP is still being outraised by the Senate Leadership Fund, the GOP’s top Senate super PAC, in large part thanks to billionaire Elon Musk and other Republican megadonors. Musk gave $158 million to SLF in the third quarter, according to its most recent FEC report, and the super PAC in turn sent that money to Texas’ Senate race in order to boost the scandal-plagued GOP nominee Ken Paxton.
As of Sept. 30, SLF had raised more than $423 million for the cycle.
Democrats have been able to offset much of Republicans’ super PAC cash advantage on the airwaves because of stronger candidate fundraising.
But Republicans still have the advantage of a favorable map — and more outside money — as they hope to maintain control of at least one chamber of Congress next month.
GOODBYE HORSES: New York City isn’t horsing around anymore.
The City Council voted overwhelmingly today to abolish the Big Apple’s horse carriage industry, handing a historic win to animal rights activists who’ve pushed to end the tourist attraction for decades.
The vote doesn’t mean the industry sunsets overnight, though. The bill enacting the ban — which passed the Council with 40 yays, 7 nays and 2 abstentions — allows the roughly 200 carriage drivers who shuttle tourists around Central Park to continue operating until June 2028, when the industry will be reined into a legal halt officially.
Council Speaker Julie Menin, who started making the legislation’s passage a priority over the summer, told reporters before the vote that the carriage horse-related June death of Romanch Mahajan, an 18-year-old Indian tourist, was the last straw. But she also cited a long record of horses dying in the streets as part of the reason for the bill finally crossing the finish line.
“This has been a long time coming,” she said.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani — who initially withheld support for the measure over labor protection concerns — got behind it earlier this month, sealing the deal for it to become law. He hasn’t yet set a date for signing the bill.
Mamdani came on board after the Council modified the bill to give drivers pathways into other lines of work, and the phase-out period is key in that pursuit.
Under the bill, the city must create a workforce transition program under which drivers would, between now and 2028, receive career counseling as well as referrals to employment opportunities in both public and private sectors, including with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and hospitality and tourism outfits. The bill would also prohibit drivers from sending their horses to slaughter or using them for carriage duties in another city where it’s allowed.
Horse carriage drivers and their supporters remain furious.
The Transport Workers Union, which advocates for carriage drivers, announced yesterday that it will file a lawsuit to block the ban, arguing it violates federal and state laws. The union is especially incensed that the bill doesn’t require the city to pay out drivers for the value of their carriage licenses — an omission lawyers for the TWU say flies in the face of the Fifth Amendment’s prohibition on government usurping private property without compensation.
Just as the Council was getting ready to vote, carriage supporters received backing from a somewhat unexpected source: President Donald Trump.
“So sad to see the beloved Central Park Horse-drawn Carriage Industry ending after over a Century, based largely on one tragic accident,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, referring to Mahajan. “When there is a car accident in the area, of which there are many, they don’t stop cars from entering the Park. So why would they stop the Carriages? It was a Great Tradition.”
Also before today’s vote, dozens of TWU reps and carriage drivers gathered outside City Hall to blast the Council for moving forward with the legislation. One of them brought along a ziplock bag of equine feces with a handwritten label on it reading: “This is horse sh*t.”
Christina Hansen, who’s been driving carriages for more than a decade, said she feels “disrespected” by the fact that the bill doesn’t guarantee she and her colleagues will be compensated for their licenses, which are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“There are people who are owed money on medallions, who have planned families, had children, bought houses, taken out loans,” Hansen said. “What’s going to happen to them?”
Fellow carriage driver Danielle Slot, who voted for Mamdani in last year’s mayoral election, told Playbook she feels betrayed by his decision to back the bill without a provision mandating medallion reimbursement.
“You say you’re going after billionaires, but you’re really going after the underdogs,” Slot said. “These guys are hardworking, every single medallion is its own independent business, and many are immigrant owned. I expected better from Mamdani than to be a puppet.”
When asked why the bill only requires the city to “consider” medallion compensation as opposed to requiring it, Menin pointed a finger at the mayor. “To be clear, that was language that, you know, was worked out with the administration,” she told reporters at City Hall.
Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the mayor, did not dispute Menin’s account, but said the administration is “in discussions” about compensation for medallion owners.
Mayors and Council speakers have tried to outlaw the industry since at least 2007. Momentum has built for a ban following tragic incidents in which horses have died or been severely injured in and around Central Park.
But until now, those efforts have fizzled, in part because of political pressure from the Transport Workers Union.
Carriage industry supporters argue that it can be reformed to ensure better safety standards without outlawing it outright. Council member Jim Gennaro, who introduced a bill that would do just that, said he believes Menin is at least partially politically motivated, pointing to the influence of NYCLASS, one of the main animal rights groups behind the push for a ban.
“NYCLASS does have the ability to turn winners and losers in mayoral elections and in borough elections, and I don’t think that fact has been lost on the speaker,” he said before voting against the bill. NYCLASS notably tanked former Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s 2013 mayoral bid by spending heavily against her because of her reluctance to support a carriage ban at the time.
Before the bill passed this afternoon, Gennaro tried to force through an amendment that would’ve delayed the phase-out deadline for the carriage industry until 2030, but it was rejected.
On the other side of the bitter debate, supporters of the bill gathered for a rally in City Hall Park before the vote. Among them were members of Mahajan’s family, who have been fighting for the legislation since his death.
“True justice means recognizing that these gentle, majestic horses do not belong on the congested asphalt,” Gaurav Mahajan, Romanch’s uncle, said. “By granting them the peaceful, green pastures they so deeply deserve, we fulfill Romanch’s purpose.” — Molly Reinmann and Chris Sommerfeldt
From the Capitol
RAILING AGAINST ALBANY: As Planet Albany denizens may have noticed, the Office of General Services this week began installing hand railings down the middle of several staircases near the state Senate chamber.
More railings are planned for the Assembly chamber-side stairs too. The project costs some $700,000, per WNYC’s Jon Campbell — further evidence that the most expensive government building construction project of the 19th century is never really done.
Aside from the cost, it’s an aesthetic change to a building teeming with history and one that is rarely altered.
Historian and former state Assemblymember Jack McEneny is taking the latest addition to the New York state Capitol in stride.
“I always thought it was only a matter of time that somebody would decide to do something,” he said in an interview when asked about the railings.
McEneny is an expert on the building and has given guided tours. He noted the staircases were not built with safety in mind.
“It was inevitable,” he said of adding the railings. “There’s a number of things that we did back two or three generations before that we wouldn’t do today.”
The stone staircases in the Capitol are indeed steep and very hard. (Fifteen years ago, your Playbook writer landed on his face while sprinting from the second to the third floor, necessitating an emergency dental intervention.)
The building, of course, has been altered over the years to fit the needs of people who work in it. That includes the installation of a small, hideaway elevator, which was used by a wheelchair-bound Franklin Roosevelt when he was governor.
“We require more things than we did at the time of its opening,” McEneny said. “We also have more attorneys who will sue.” — Nick Reisman
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
BLAKEMAN GROUP GETS $2M: The main super PAC supporting Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman has received $2 million from a dark money group created to back Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.
Securing American Greatness made the donation Tuesday to Strong and Safe New York, according to a filing submitted to the state Board of Elections. That group was formed by longtime Trump ally Taylor Budowich.
The pro-Blakeman group has now raised $10.3 million since July. That makes it the largest single independent expenditure group so far this election cycle, though a longer roster of outside spenders boosting Gov. Kathy Hochul means she’s still the beneficiary of more super PAC money. — Bill Mahoney
BROOKLYN BATTLE: The New York State Court of Appeals declined to weigh in Thursday on the long-running legal battle between factions of Brooklyn Democrats looking to lead the county party.
State Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the former chair of the party, appealed a lower court’s decision that an August vote to change the makeup of the organization’s executive committee was invalid. The lower court’s ruling remains in effect after the appeals court decided not to take it up.
The issue of if state Assemblymember Nikki Lucas, Bichotte Hermelyn’s successor of choice, was properly elected is still playing out in the courts. — Madison Fernandez
GOV AND MAYOR: Hochul’s campaign today released a video co-starring Mamdani as they prepare to hit the trail together for her reelection.
The video highlighted their shared push for expanding child care, visiting a family that benefits from the service.
Blue Light News first reported this morning that the governor and mayor will make two appearances together in the coming days with events on Friday and Sunday in Brooklyn. — Nick Reisman
FROM CITY HALL
MAM LEANS ON MENIN: Mamdani put public pressure on Menin today by showing up to a rally calling for the passage of labor legislation that she hasn’t thrown her weight behind yet — in part because of legal concerns.
The Delivery Protection Act, which was introduced by democratic socialist Council member Tiffany Cabán, would require Amazon and other retail giants to hire their own delivery workers. Currently, retailers can subcontract delivery employees via third party entities — a system that supporters of Cabán’s bill argue hampers workers’ ability to unionize and allows companies like Amazon to skirt accountability for labor violations.
Thirty-four of the Council’s 51 members have signed on as co-sponsors of Cabán’s bill, giving it a veto-proof majority of support, and a hearing was held on it in April. But Menin hasn’t scheduled a vote on the measure or offered support for it, even though she was a co-sponsor of a version of the legislation last year before becoming speaker.
Against that backdrop, Mamdani appeared on the steps of City Hall this morning with Cabán and other backers of the bill. In prepared remarks, he didn’t call out Menin by name, but blasted Amazon for pumping millions of dollars into lobbying against the bill.
“Corporations like Amazon operate on a model of exploitation, and they are spending millions of dollars to convince New Yorkers otherwise,” he said. “But it will not work because we are here together today to make clear that we are going to pass the Delivery Protection Act.”
By contrast, International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien, whose union represents Amazon workers, took direct aim at Menin, saying she must call a vote on the bill immediately. “Now is the time to get off your ass,” said O’Brien, who met privately with Mamdani before the rally.
When asked later in the day why she isn’t immediately moving forward with the bill, Menin cited concerns she said need to be worked out regarding potential job losses that could come from barring Amazon from relying on third party contractors. But she also said Mamdani’s own Law Department had reached out to the Council with “legal concerns” with the bill that needed to be resolved before a vote.
Menin didn’t elaborate on the legal issues. But a person with knowledge of the conversations between the Council and the Law Department, who was granted anonymity to discuss the ongoing talks, told Playbook one of the concerns is centered around ensuring the bill satisfies the high legal standard required for the city to mandate direct hiring in the private sector.
A Mamdani spokesperson didn’t immediately return a request for comment on the legal concerns.
Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly pushed back against the criticism from Mamdani and O’Brien, saying the reliance on third parties “works because local entrepreneurs — people rooted in their communities — deliver a better experience.”
“And this model isn’t unusual — it’s how businesses and governments operate every day,” Kelly said. “New York City routinely contracts with outside companies to build its infrastructure, run its school buses, and deliver social services. This legislation would single out one industry for restrictions the city doesn’t even apply to its own operations.”
It’s a bit unusual for Mamdani to put the speaker on public notice like this over Council legislation. So far in his mayoral term, he hasn’t leaned heavily into legislative battles in the chamber over bills that are still under consideration. — Chris Sommerfeldt
IN OTHER NEWS
— DOUBLE AGENT: A campaign website for Thomas Kenny, an upstate Assembly candidate running on the Working Families Party ballot line, was created by an aide for Kenny’s ostensible opponent, Republican Allen Caruso. (New York Focus)
— ICE: Hochul’s office is pushing back against the detention of a state employee by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Times Union)
— BUS FARE: The MTA is temporarily shutting down its bus fair enforcement teams following an altercation between a Brooklyn public school dean and fare inspectors. (Gothamist)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
With less than two weeks until Election Day, most statewide debates have come and gone. Democrats tried to paint their Republican opponents into corners over loyalty to President Donald Trump, and Republicans tried to stake out nuanced positions on the Iran war and data centers.
Here’s what we learned from the more than two dozen statewide candidate debates that occurred — and from those that didn’t.
Republicans walk a fine line with an unpopular Trump
In debate after debate, Democrats tried to tie their opponents to the unpopular president. Republicans weren’t always willing to let them.
Several candidates — especially in blue states — were willing to break with the president. In New Hampshire, GOP former Sen. John Sununu said he’s “never met President Trump” and emphasized he’s “never hesitated to stand up to my party or the president when they’re wrong,” specifically criticizing Trump’s policies on trade, Iran and Ukraine. In Minnesota, Republican Senate nominee Michelle Tafoya said she disagreed with Trump’s tariff policy and immigration enforcement, and when asked if she would appear onstage with Trump, she demurred. “I am talking to Minnesotans. Theirs is the only endorsement that I care about,” she said.
In Maine, GOP Sen. Susan Collins emphasized that she has voted against the president more than 100 times this year, and criticized his approach on Iran. Bobby Charles, the GOP nominee for governor and a former official in President George W. Bush’s State Department during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, said he disagreed with Trump’s “extended engagement” in Iran because “I know what it means to get stuck in a place.”
Some Republicans became frustrated by their opponents’ efforts to tie them to the president. “He wants to make this about Donald Trump,” said former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) “The bingo game ought to be, how many times can he put the word ‘Trump’ in any answer that he has given in the last, whatever, 30 minutes? It’s ridiculous.”
But in some redder states, candidates were more willing to hug the president — recognizing support from his base will be critical to win.
“We need the Trump voters to come out,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) said in a debate Wednesday. “Just like with my wife, I can disagree with her. Now, my wife is always right, and President Trump is not always right. But I do think that it’s great that I have a relationship that I can pick up the phone and discuss with him the pros and cons of what he’s contemplating.”
It’s the economy, stupid
Democrats hammered Republicans on affordability issues, blaming Trump’s tariff policy and Iran for spiking prices. In response, a few conceded some Trump policies were hurting them — while others tried to blame the last president.
“That Bidenomics, that Green New Deal that my opponent voted for, that’s where all this inflation came from,” said Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) in a Senate debate in early October.
The other Collins, Susan, went the opposite way in blue-leaning Maine. “The bottom line is Troy and I both would have voted against the Canadian tariffs,” she said in an October 13 debate, after saying the Iran war was “not well thought out.”
Rep. Ashley Hinson, the GOP nominee for Senate in Iowa, said she would pause the gasoline tax before acknowledging the effect of the war: “I trust in our U.S. military, the greatest fighting force in the world, to bring this to a close as quickly as possible, because I know people are being squeezed,” she said.
Democrats largely sang the same tune on Trump’s policies.
“These tariffs are crushing our state, and we’ll repeal those tariffs,” said Sen. John Ossoff (D-Ga.).
“The tariffs and the war in Iran has hurt Iowa more than any other state,” said state Rep. Josh Turek (D-Iowa).
“If you appreciate having record diesel fuel prices … then I’d say vote for Roger Marshall,” said Adam Hamilton, the Democratic nominee running for Senate in Kansas. “If you want change, then I’d like to ask you to vote for me.”
Everyone hates data centers
Republicans and Democrats showed a remarkable similarity in their distaste for data centers even as their specific policy prescriptions diverged — a sign of the issue’s rapid ascent as a bipartisan bogeyman, even as Trump reiterates his support for them.
Candidates from both parties called for local control. “Look, if you don’t want a data center, I will stand up and defend it and make sure you don’t get it,” said Rick Jackson, a Republican billionaire businessman running for Georgia governor. “Local communities know best,” said Hinson, the Iowa Republican.
In Maine, both Senate candidates said guardrails should be installed to prevent the data centers from raising utility rates for local residents. In Iowa, both gubernatorial candidates — Democrat Rob Sand and Republican Zach Lahn — supported ending tax breaks for data center developers. In New Hampshire, both Senate candidates agreed with GOP Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s push for a statewide moratorium.
“At the end of the day, it’s up to our governor, our local leaders, to make decisions about any big infrastructure, transmission, power plants, new factories, and data centers should be treated just the same,” Sununu said.
Gaffe gamechangers
Debates can do candidates more harm than good, and some candidates had some cringey moments.
In Alaska, Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola appeared to be reading from a notecard throughout a recent debate, giving her opponent, GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan, a chance to pounce. “We weren’t supposed to get these questions beforehand, were we?” he asked the moderator.
“You can’t cue-card your way through the Senate,” Sullivan later wrote on social media.
Sullivan had his own moment a few weeks earlier when he peeked at Peltola’s answer during a lightning-round question, prompting laughter from the audience. “Happy to help, Dan,” Peltola wrote on social media.
In Kansas, Marshall faced loud chats of “you don’t live here” during a debate at the state fair, while speaking about his residence in Kansas and his home in Florida.
In Maine, Jackson said Collins should “shut up” after a protester interrupted the debate and Collins claimed the demonstrator was “obviously one of Troy’s supporters.”
“Oh, shut up,” Jackson said. “I don’t even know that kid.” Collins has pounced on the moment to try to paint Jackson as a sexist hothead; Jackson later said he did not regret his outburst.
In Iowa, Hinson responded to a question about ensuring the solvency of Social Security by slamming young people’s saving habits. “We also need to be talking about millennials saving money,” she said. “Millennials are the worst group of savers in the country right now and have the least amount of savings.”
The debates that didn’t happen
Fear of gaffes may have cost voters a chance to see their candidates square off, as the longstanding political tradition of campaign debates took another hit this cycle.
In Senate battlegrounds across the country, nominees in both parties outright refused to join their opponents onstage or carefully ducked debates.
In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton rebuffed invitation after invitation (including one from Fox News), even after Trump urged him to get onstage. In Ohio, the Senate candidates still haven’t reached an agreement to debate. In North Carolina, there is no debate scheduled between the major-party Senate candidates for the first time in nearly 30 years.
There doesn’t seem to be a partisan division over who will and won’t debate. Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and Ohio Democratic nominee Amy Acton refused to debate their opponents. So did GOP Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas and Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who have rebuffed invitations to debate.
“There’s so much difference between us, I mean, there’s no reason to get up there and argue about differences of opinion,” Tuberville, running for Alabama governor against Democratic former Sen. Doug Jones, told reporters in August.
Andrew Howard, Jason Beeferman, Lisa Kashinsky, Aaron Pellish, Alec Hernandez, Erin Doherty and Jessica Piper contributed reporting.
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