Congressional Debates Confirmed, Radio Faceoff Causes Stir

Instead of three debates in the First Congressional District race, there will only be two as of now.

Incumbent Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick and Democratic challenger Christina Finello will square off on October 6 at Bucks County Community College’s Gene and Marlene Epstein Campus in Bristol Township and October 12 when the League of Women Voters of Bucks County and the Bucks County Chambers of Commerce host their event.

The candidates were also planning on debating on Bristol Township-based community radio station WBCB-AM 1490, but that has fallen apart.

Finello’s campaign said scheduling issues led to them not being able to find a time that matches with Fitzpatrick’s schedule.

In a story on the radio station’s website, it reported that staff have been communicating with campaigns since July about a debate at their studio.

According to the WBCB account, Fitzpatrick’s campaign wanted a debate toward the end of summer and Finello’s team wanted to wait until after Labor Day when they felt voters would be more engaged. There were compromise dates that Fitzpatrick had agreed to, but the radio station reported Finello’s campaign took a week to respond and did not have availability.

With expanded mail-in voting and COVID-19 pushing a significant number of citizens to vote via mail, the radio station wanted to hold the debate sooner rather than later. Mail-in ballots are expected to start arriving to those who requested them by mid-September.

“Well, this says it all. Christina Finello now claims that she does not have a single hour free anytime in the next two months to discuss the issues in front of the voters before they begin mail-in voting. Even on the dates that she told us that she was available, they’ve magically disappeared. We will let the voters decide on whether they think she’s telling the truth,” Fitzpatrick’s campaign said in a statement sent to media and posted online.

Kate Constantini, Fitzpatrick’s campaign spokesperson, questioned why Finello couldn’t find a single hour to debate on the radio station in the coming weeks. She noted Fitzpatrick is busy too and has to travel between the district and Washington D.C. but still found times that worked.

“With over 100,000 voters set to receive mail-in ballots September 14th we feel it’s important for the Finello campaign to explain why they feel those voters don’t deserve to hear the candidates on a debate stage together,” Constantini said.

Ali Anderson, Finello’s campaign manager, said they are looking forward to holding Fitzpatrick “accountable” at debates.

“We had just begun discussing scheduling for the WBCB debate and had not confirmed our participation. We offered over 20 dates when Congress was not in session for this debate, including weekends. Unfortunately, the Fitzpatrick campaign indicated scheduling conflicts for all of those dates and showed no interest in finding a compromise,” Anderson said.

Fitzpatrick’s campaign used the debate drama as a chance to hit Finello. The campaign has purchased social media ads with a photo of Finello and asking: “what is she hiding?”

According to the Facebook advertising library, Fitzpatrick has spent at least $1,900 on highlighting the debate on Facebook and Instagram.

Fitzpatrick has attended the numerous pre-election debates and forums over the years, but has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats for his lack of holding town hall events and instead opting for limited telephone town hall events. His campaign has previously said he often meets with residents, groups, and attends local community events.

In March, Fitzpatrick declined to debate his Republican primary opponent Andrew Meehan.

Congressional debates host by WBCB have happened over the years, but they are not constant fixtures of local election season. Fitzpatrick’s previous Democratic opponent, Scott Wallace, did not take part in a WBCB debate in 2018. Previously, candidates have faced off on WBCB and a similar-style radio station WNPV-AM in Lansdale. WNPV went off the air and closed in spring.

WBCB serves Bucks County and Burlington and Mercer counties in New Jersey. It is owned by Philadelphia Eagles announcer Merrill Reese and businessman Pat Deon, who is a major powerplayer in Republican politics and has donated to Fitzpatrick’s campaign over the years.

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