PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Only one debate was scheduled in the contentious race for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District seat. Now it's not happening.
Republican Congressman Ryan Mackenzie said Democratic challenger Bob Brooks has dropped out of Wednesday night’s debate. They're vying to represent all of Carbon, Lehigh, and Northampton counties, and parts of Monroe County.
Mackenzie revealed Brooks' decision on WPHT live with Dom Giordano earlier on Monday.
“We have been trying to get him to debate for probably about 2 months now, and then he strung along WFMZ for the past month, saying, ‘I’m gonna pick the latest date possible’ and ‘we’re gonna be there,’ and it was all a lie. He never planned to debate, and we are the ones who caught up to him,” Mackenzie said.
In a statement, Brooks' campaign spokesperson, Benny Stanislawski, said Mackenzie has defamed his opponent in his advertisements.
Mackenzie's commercials claim Brooks engaged in "criminal" activity while running a lawn care company. He said Brooks, a former fireman, didn't have a workers' compensation policy.
The Brooks campaign issued a cease and desist in response to those advertisements over the weekend.
“So now he’s using this cease and desist, which he and his attorney manufactured as the reason why he won’t debate. This guy is a conman and a fraudster — he could’ve never handled the scrutiny on a debate stage — and that’s the reason he backed out,” Mackenzie said.
Brooks’ campaign statement said he is "more than happy to debate ideas,” but he doesn't want to give Mackenzie a platform to "spread outright lies.”
Stanislawski told WFMZ that Brooks would like to participate in a 30-minute sit-down interview instead.
