U.S. Senate race: Kyrsten Sinema challenges Martha McSally to 2 televised debates

The Republic | azcentral.com

Arizona U.S. Senate candidates Republican Martha McSally (left) and Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema is challenging Republican rival Martha McSally to meet in two televised debates during the campaign.

In a one-page letter to McSally, Sinema said, "as I'm sure you agree, Arizonans should hear directly from the candidates about how we'll address the issues that matter most to families across our state."

Sinema proposes that the two debates be televised, streamed live online, and simulcast in Spanish. She also says they should be hosted by local media outlets and moderated by Arizona reporters.

The congresswoman asked that one debate occur in Phoenix and the other in Tucson, the state's two largest media markets, with one of the debates focused on health care, Sinema wrote, adding that it's the issue she hears most about.

"Whether it's protecting affordable, quality health insurance; getting our veterans the care they deserve; ensuring all Arizonans have the opportunity to succeed; or keeping Americans safe at home and abroad — these are the issues Arizonans care about most and they deserve to know our plans to address them," Sinema wrote.

McSally's spokeswoman, Torunn Sinclair, said the congresswoman "is excited to debate Kyrsten this fall. Arizonans deserve to know where both candidates stand."

Sinclair did not address Sinema's proposed terms for their debates.

During the primary election, both candidates declined to participate in televised debates hosted by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, Arizona PBS and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

They drew criticism that they had deprived voters of an opportunity to see them discuss the issues. But for Sinema and McSally it was a political calculation — they didn't want to elevate their opponents or commit a gaffe.

Sinema, 42, is a three-term congresswoman from Phoenix who served in the state Legislature before ascending to Capitol Hill.

McSally, 52, is a two-term congresswoman from Tucson who was the first woman to fly in combat in the U.S. Air Force.

On two critical issues Congress dealt with in 2017, health care and corporate tax cuts, Sinema stuck with the Democrats.

She says she wants to fix some elements of the Affordable Care Act, such as taxes on "Cadillac" insurance policies and medical devices, and the insurance markets for individuals buying coverage on their own, known as exchanges.

"The exchanges are not working in Arizona ...frankly it's just not affordable for most Arizonans," she said earlier this month. "I think the next thing to tackle would be to reform the exchanges, because they're not working."

McSally worked with a bipartisan group of lawmakers last year to reshape the health care exchanges.

She also joined a group of moderate Republicans who helped craft House Speaker Paul Ryan's failed American Health Care Act. That bill passed the House on a party-line vote in May after Ryan made several concessions to the far-right House Freedom Caucus.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the Ryan plan would result in 23 million fewer people with health insurance. But McSally said then that she would expect the fix supported by the caucus would have a net positive effect on insurance coverage.

Sinema voted against the GOP plan.

Republic reporter Ronald J. Hansen contributed to this report.

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