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Luksik wants debates with Toomey (Updated)

Republican Senate candidate Peg Luksik on Thursday called for a series of debates with GOP front-runner Pat Toomey, as she continues a primary run in which garnering attention against a standard-bearer like Toomey has been difficult.

“I have attended public event after public event and been inundated with people opposed to the Senate and House health care proposals not because they have been told by the media that it is a bad bill, but because they actually read the bill,” Luksik wrote in a letter to the Toomey campaign. “People are more informed and engaged than ever before, and I think that it is our responsibility to honor that through the way that we conduct our respective campaigns.”

She did not specify how many debates she wants, and said all details were open to discussion.

A prominent conservative activist who has run for governor in the past, Luksik had hoped to be the leading GOP candidate early last year when Toomey was leaning toward a gubernatorial run instead of a Senate run. Before Toomey got into the race, Luksik argued that he would be the one splitting the Republican vote if he ran. In recent months, the Republican establishment as well as much of the rank-and-file has overwhelmingly coalesced behind Toomey, and while Luksik still retains a loyal following, pollsters have refrained from even surveying the primary between them.

In a statement, Toomey spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik said that “we believe debates and candidate forums are important parts of the electoral process. That is why Pat has already participated in four joint forums with Peg in different regions of the state and he intends to debate her again before the primary.”

February 25, 2010 at 2:05 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Pat Toomey, Peg Luksik

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