UCLA plans to host a U.S. Senate debate between candidates Rep. Loretta Sanchez and California Attorney General Kamala Harris at Royce Hall on Oct. 14.
Sanchez, a Democrat from Orange County, accepted the debate offer after she met with students and faculty Tuesday morning to discuss her goals for education as senator, said Rafi Sands, undergraduate student government external vice president.
The EVP office posted on its Facebook page that both Sanchez and Harris had accepted the debate offer. But an update to the post Wednesday said it remains unclear whether Harris will take part in the debate.
Jonathan Van Dyke, spokesperson from the UCLA Office of Government and Community Relations, said UCLA plans to partner with television station KNBC to host the debate.
Requests for comment from the Harris campaign were redirected to a Los Angeles Times article, in which a campaign representative said Harris was not accepting additional debate offers.
Van Dyke said UCLA is aware of the report, but remains in discussions with the Harris campaign about whether she will attend the debate.
“We’re holding the date open,” Van Dyke said. “Right now, it’s still early in the process. We are working with our partners; there’s an open door, we have not nailed down a specific deadline (for Harris to accept).”
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The UCLA debate, if confirmed, would be the second debate for both candidates. The first debate is scheduled to take place at California State University Los Angeles on Oct. 5.
The two senate candidates have been negotiating the debate schedule leading up to the November election for weeks, according to the LA Times article. Harris’ campaign announced in August that the candidate would participate in only two debates – one in late September in Sacramento and the other at Cal State LA. Sanchez later backed out of the September event and challenged her opponent to a total of four debates, which Harris rejected.
Luis Vizcaino, spokesperson for the Sanchez campaign, said he thinks if Harris refuses to debate at UCLA it would show utter disrespect to the students of UCLA and voters of California.
“Closing the door on debates is closing the door on voters, and the voters will close the door on Kamala Harris,” Vizcaino said.
The BruinsVote! coalition will assist in distributing tickets if the debate is confirmed, and Sands said it will use the event to encourage students to vote in the November election.