Gulleson, Cramer agree on debates in U.S. House race

FARGO — North Dakota’s U.S. House candidates are poised to face off at least four times before Election Day.

The campaigns of Democrat Pam Gulleson and Republican Kevin Cramer said Thursday they’ve accepted several invitations for formal debates and public candidate forums this fall.

Gulleson and Cramer are in agreement on four events so far:

* A North Dakota Chamber of Commerce forum on Oct. 11 in Bismarck.

* A North Dakota Medical Association forum on Oct. 12.

* A debate on KFGO AM-790 radio in Fargo.

* A debate on Prairie Public television.

Dates have not been finalized for the KFGO or Prairie Public debates.

Neither Gulleson nor Cramer has yet challenged the other to debate, marking a stark contrast in comparison to North Dakota’s U.S. Senate race, where the issue of debates has become a pawn in political gamesmanship.

Democrat Heidi Heitkamp wants seven debates, but Republican Rep. Rick Berg has only confirmed his participation in two.

Gulleson and Cramer are in agreement that they welcome as many opportunities as possible to face their opponent in a fair venue.

“The more often we can talk about our differences, the better off we’ll be,” Cramer told The Forum’s editorial board during a visit Thursday. “It’s good for democracy. … I think I ought to have 10, maybe 12, debates against Pam Gulleson.”

Gulleson doesn’t have a benchmark of how many debates she’d like to have against Cramer, but she “wants to do as many as is feasible,” said her spokeswoman, Hillary Price.

“Pam would love to debate,” Price said. “It’s a really great opportunity to talk about issues in a public forum, and she thinks it’s really important for voters to see that.”

Price said Gulleson has also accepted invitations to forums sponsored by the North Dakota Petroleum Council in September and the North Dakota Hospital Association in October.

Cramer’s campaign spokeswoman Kate Bommarito said Thursday afternoon they had not yet received invitations to those events.

Kristen Daum is a reporter

at The Forum of Fargo-

Moorhead, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.

Tags: news, politics