Challenger presses for debates with Rohrabacher

Paul Clinton

COSTA MESA -- Democrat Gerrie Schipske has challenged Rep. Dana

Rohrabacher to a string of debates in each city of the newly constituted

46th Congressional District.

Schipske, a nurse and labor attorney from Long Beach, laid down the

gauntlet in a letter to the incumbent congressman sent out late Monday.

“Because of redistricting, many voters know neither of us and they are

entitled to hear our views on the important issues,” Schipske wrote. “I

hope you will agree to join me in working out a schedule. I suggest that

we utilize the upcoming congressional recess to begin these debates.”

Schipske nearly upset Republican Rep. Steve Horn in 2000 in a district

largely made up of Long Beach. Rohrabacher’s new district includes Costa

Mesa, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, parts of Long Beach, San Pedro,

Rolling Hills and Palos Verdes.

State lawmakers redrew the district to resemble one with boundaries

close to one Rohrabacher held in the late 1980s, when he first won the

seat.

“I always debate my opponents,” Rohrabacher said in a statement

responding to the letter.

However, a spokesman for the congressman didn’t say when or where

Rohrabacher would discuss the pertinent issues with Schipske.

Rohrabacher has debated his Democratic opponents in the past. On Oct.

21, 1998, he squared off against Patricia W. Neal at Golden West College

in Huntington Beach.

In 1996, he passed on a challenge from surfer Sally Alexander, his

82-year-old Democratic opponent, to a “surf-off.”

Incumbents tend to resist debates with their challengers because they

have more to lose. There’s always the chance they will stumble or

embarrass themselves, as in the case of Dan Quayle’s performance in the

vice presidential debate with Sen. Lloyd Benson in 1988.

“No incumbent has an incentive to debate,” said Mark Petracca, the

head of the UC Irvine Political Science Department. “The incumbent has

something to lose. [By taking the same stage], you allow your challenger

to assume the same stature you do.”

In the statement, Rohrabacher said he would debate Schipske if a

neutral third party, such as the League of Women Voters, organized the

forum.