Prince Richard & Ohio Dems Reject Calls For More Debates Amid Accusations of Rigged Ohio Dem Gov Primary

One week after the Ohio Democrat Party was accused of “rigging” their gubernatorial primary for Washington D.C. Bureaucrat Richard Cordray, the party and its preferred candidate are resisting calls for additional debates. Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich sent a letter to the party calling for weekly debates up until the May 8 primary, and while both Joe Schiavoni and Bill O’Neill echoed Kucinich’s sentiments, both the Ohio Democrat Party and Cordray’s campaign quickly rejected the idea.

At last week’s Democrat gubernatorial debate, former Cordray ally Bill O’Neill accused the Ohio Democrats of “rigging” their nomination process for Cordray, calling him “Prince Richard.” Now, after a lackluster debate performance by Cordray and allegations of a rigged primary, Ohio Democrats are rejecting calls by multiple candidates for more debates in an apparent effort to protect their chosen candidate from increased scrutiny by voters. With Democrats growing more divided in Ohio’s increasingly ugly gubernatorial primary, their party’s chances of winning in November continue to decline.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

“Kucinich said the party, which has technically held four debates but only one with the current slate of candidates, is failing Democratic voters by not having an aggressive schedule. He asked for one debate a week in the major urban areas of Ohio until the primary.

‘It is especially urgent that the party put forth a fuller and more transparent effort given the persistent rumors, innuendos, and media speculation that one of the four candidates is the not-so- secret favorite of what is commonly referred to as the ‘Democratic Establishment,”’ Kucinich wrote. He presumably was referring to former federal consumer watchdog Richard Cordray, considered to be the frontrunner for the nomination.

Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirstin Alvanitakis said the party planned to move ahead with a planned April 10 debate in Southwest Ohio.

‘Since we announced in the summer of 2017 that we would be holding a series of debates, the Ohio Democratic Party has been committed to an open and transparent process,’ Alvanitakis said in a statement. ‘In addition to our debate series, many Democratic groups have held public forums, which have been incredibly well-received.’…

Cordray campaign spokesman Mike Gwin said the two debates — including the one in April — plus the multiple forums with the candidates was sufficient.

‘In addition to last week’s debate, Rich has appeared at five forums with the other candidates and looks forward to additional joint appearances where he can continue to lay out his record of delivering results for Ohio workers and families,’ Gwin said. ‘If Dennis really wants to be on TV that much, he should just try to get his old Fox News contract back.’…

O’Neill said he would welcome more debates like the one in Toledo, which he called “extremely well done.”

‘I agree with Dennis that we should have more televised debates to assist voters in deciding who they want to vote for,’ O’Neill said. ‘More importantly, the televised debate in Toledo last week was the model of how the Democratic Party should be getting the word out to the Democratic voters.’”