Hatch pushes for more debates, Branstad resists Challenger wants televised meetings in Cedar Rapids and Davenport

DES MOINES - Democratic challenger Jack Hatch continues to push to get televised debates in Cedar Rapids and Davenport added to the three face-to-face meetings Republican Gov. Terry Branstad has indicated he will attend before the Nov. 4 general election.

Branstad's campaign previously announced the five-term Republican has accepted invitations to participate in three general election debates with Hatch in Des Moines, Burlington and Sioux City.

Hatch campaign manager Grant Woodard said Thursday the Democratic state senator from Des Moines would prefer nine debates with Branstad during the fall campaign but at a minimum is pushing for televised debates proposed by media outlets in Cedar Rapids and Davenport - two of the state's three largest media markets. Hatch's campaign also is seeking a face-to-face debate between Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Democratic running mate Monica Vernon of Cedar Rapids.

By refusing to negotiate, Woodard said, Branstad's campaign is potentially jeopardizing already scheduled debates between the candidates. 'Governor Branstad has failed to schedule proposed debates in Cedar Rapids and the Quad Cities, which creates questions about whether there's really an agreement to debate at all,” he said in a statement.

During a campaign event last week, Hatch accused Branstad of employing a 'bullying technique” by refusing to negotiate over an agreed-to schedule of debates between the incumbents and challengers.

'He issued a statement that he's agreed to three debates. He never asked us, never negotiated with us, that has never, never been done before,” Hatch told a Des Moines gathering. 'The campaigns always discuss the terms, the conditions, the locations and the number of debates. He unilaterally said these are the only three that he's going to approve. We accepted those three and suggested six more.”

Hatch and his campaign officials contend Branstad has purposefully bypassed a large segment of the state because he does not want Iowans to see or hear discussions about 'the hush-money secret settlement mess and other scandals” that run counter to his 'damage control” efforts.

In response to Hatch's call for more debates, Branstad-Reynolds campaign spokesman Tommy Schultz said the GOP governor - just as he did in 2010 when he was the challenger - has agreed to participate in three debates on Aug. 14 at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, a televised debate on Sept. 20 in Burlington that will include the Quad Cities media market and a televised/broadcast debate Oct. 14 in Sioux City.

'Instead of complaining about debate locations, maybe Jack Hatch should actually travel the state and visit every county like Gov. Branstad has done each and every year,” Schultz said in a statement.

'Jack Hatch has no new ideas so (he) resorts to petty, silly attacks like this. Gov. Branstad instead spends his time on policies that have led to record employment and balanced budgets,” Schultz added. 'This stale, tired, lame argument is reminiscent of the Culver administration and is hard to take seriously considering the hundreds of visits Gov. Branstad has made to Cedar Rapids and the Quad Cities.”

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