Independent county executive candidate Robin Ficker is accusing Montgomery County Democrats of running a “public relations campaign” by refusing to debate him in a question-and-answer session tonight.
Meanwhile, organizers of tonight’s session, scheduled at the Friendship Heights Community Center, say that they are only following the format of previous such events and were told by Democratic candidates Ike Leggett and Steve Silverman that they would not appear alongside Ficker.
“Leggett and Silverman will not debate him and they made that clear to me,” said Friendship Heights Village Manager Julian Mansfield on Wednesday.
He added that organizers were not trying to “shut out” Ficker.
Tonight’s session will include a question-and-answer session with Leggett and Silverman at 6:30 p.m. Robert Fustero, another Democrat, has also been invited. Republican Chuck Floyd is scheduled to speak at 8 p.m. and Ficker is scheduled to speak at 8:30 p.m.
Silverman said he did not “see any reason” to debate Ficker until after the Sept. 12 primary, adding that there is no personal animosity toward him.
“I have taken the position that it doesn’t make any sense to debate anyone who is not in the Democratic primary,” Silverman said.
Floyd said he understood Ficker’s concerns, but added that, “once the primary is over, we’ll have plenty of time to go after each other.”
Ficker has said he has asked to debate the Democrats for about a year but has been refused.
“Montgomery County voters, I think they’re being cheated in this election,” Ficker said. “Two-thirds of Montgomery county voters graduated from college and they want to have a robust discussion.”
