{"id":2338781,"date":"2024-09-09T14:41:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T18:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-decries-absence-of-green-party-candidate-in-arizona-senate-debate-washington-examiner-arizona-debate-controversy-continues\/"},"modified":"2024-09-09T14:45:30","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T18:45:30","slug":"gop-decries-absence-of-green-party-candidate-in-arizona-senate-debate-washington-examiner-arizona-debate-controversy-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-decries-absence-of-green-party-candidate-in-arizona-senate-debate-washington-examiner-arizona-debate-controversy-continues\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP decries absence of Green Party candidate in Arizona Senate debate &#8211; Washington Examiner Arizona debate controversy continues"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgop-decries-absence-of-green-party-candidate-in-arizona-senate-debate-washington-examiner-arizona-debate-controversy-continues%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2338781&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A controversy has emerged in Arizona concerning the exclusion\u200c of the Green Party candidate, Eduardo Quintana, from an upcoming Senate debate. Some Arizona Republicans are criticizing a decision made by the \u2064Citizens Clean\u200b Election\u2062 Commission, claiming it is illegal. The controversy \u2062centers around a \u200brule\u2063 change requiring candidates to receive at least 1% of \u2062the total votes in \u2064the primary to qualify for the debate. Quintana, however, received only 282 votes, far short of the necessary \u206212,400.<\/p>\n<p>State Senator Jake Hoffman has launched an\u2062 investigation into \u200bthe commission&#8217;s actions, claiming that they appear to be obstructing\u200d candidates&#8217; participation\u2064 and potentially violating transparency laws. Previously,\u2062 a Libertarian candidate was admitted to a debate after receiving only 0.22% of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/regent-university-hosts-election-integrity-conference\/\" title=\"Regent University hosts election integrity conference\">primary vote<\/a>, raising questions about the consistency of the commission&#8217;s rules. Hoffman has accused the commission of \u201crigging\u201d\u200c the debate to favor the Democratic\u2064 candidate, Ruben \u2062Gallego. While Kari\u200d Lake, a Republican candidate, supports Quintana&#8217;s\u200c inclusion, the commission defended its decision, stating that its guidelines were consistent with other\u200b debates in \u2064Arizona.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">GOP decries absence of Green Party candidate in Arizona Senate debate<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1723888\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/republicans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Republicans\">Republicans<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/arizona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Republicans\">Arizona<\/a> are sounding the alarm after a nonpartisan election commission excluded the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/green-party\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Green Party\">Green Party<\/a>&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Senate\">Senate<\/a> candidate from participating in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-katie-hobbs-refuses-to-debate-gops-kari-lake-in-arizona-governor-race\/\" title=\"Democrat Katie Hobbs Refuses to Debate GOP\u2019s Kari Lake in Arizona Governor Race\">upcoming debate<\/a>, calling the decision illegal.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>A Senate panel led by Republicans is launching an investigation into why the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcleanelections.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Citizens Clean Election Commission<\/a> won&rsquo;t allow Eduardo Quintana, the Arizona Green Party nominee for Senate, to participate alongside Republican Kari Lake and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) in a televised debate in October.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-AZ), chairman of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azleg.gov\/standing-committees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Government Committee<\/a>, claimed the commission broke the law when it changed a rule that requires a candidate to have received at least 1% of total ballots counted in their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-republican-leader-slams-marjorie-taylor-greene-a-cancer-for-the-republican-party\/\" title=\"Top Republican Leader Slams Marjorie Taylor Greene: A \u2018Cancer For The Republican Party\u2019\">primary election<\/a>. The 1% minimum threshold was 12,400 votes for Quintana, who only received 282, according to the Arizona Media Association.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-scribd wp-block-embed-scribd wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sen. Jake Hoffman Letter to Citizens Clean Elections Commission\" class=\"scribd_iframe_embed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/767422053\/content\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.7729220222793488\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"767422053\" width=\"696\" height=\"1000\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\">          (function() { var scribd=document.createElement(\"script\"); scribd.type=\"text\/javascript\"; scribd.async=true; scribd.src=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/javascripts\/embed_code\/inject.js\"; var s=document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })()        <\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/767422053\/Sen-Jake-Hoffman-Letter-to-Citizens-Clean-Elections-Commission\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>letter<\/a> to the commission, Hoffman questioned whether the procedures for amending the rules were properly followed. The rule was not in place in 2022, when the libertarian candidate, Mark Victor, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?522999-1\/arizona-us-senate-debate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>participated <\/a>in the Citizens Clean Elections Commission&rsquo;s Senate debate after only receiving 0.22% of the total primary vote.<\/p>\n<p>&#8203;&#8203;&ldquo;At best, the Clean Elections Commission seems to be creatively, yet intentionally, blocking some candidates from participating in the debate, not to mention subverting the will of the voters to require proper transparency in agency actions through the Administrative Procedures Act,&rdquo; Hoffman said in the letter. &ldquo;At worst, the taxpayer-funded Commission has knowingly broken the law.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/live-blog\/2024-presidential-debate-live-updates-trump-harris-abc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2024 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP AND HARRIS FACE OFF IN ABC SHOWDOWN<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a post on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JakeHoffmanAZ\/status\/1831801104843350235\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>X<\/a>, Hoffman went as far as to say he believed the commission was &ldquo;rigging&rdquo; the Senate debate to help Gallego and claimed voters deserved an explanation.<\/p>\n<p>The commission, which is partnering with the Arizona Media Association, did not respond to a request for comment. However, the group said in late August that it evaluated its guidelines and decided to make no additional changes.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our guidelines for this debate match every other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rnc-might-skip-network-tv-presidential-debates-in-2024-top-republican-says\/\" title=\"RNC Might Skip Network TV Presidential Debates In 2024, Top Republican Says\">general election debate<\/a> we are supporting in Arizona this fall. That means we invite any candidate who has received at least 1% of the total ballots cast for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pa-county-reports-voting-machine-issues-affecting-republican-ballots-dominion-releases-statement\/\" title=\"PA County Reports Voting Machine Issues Affecting Republican Ballots; Dominion Releases Statement\u00a0\">primary election race<\/a>,&rdquo; it said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">  https:\/\/twitter.com\/KariLake\/status\/1831361664094265551 <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Lake is also supporting Quintana&rsquo;s bid to be included in the debate, claiming Gallego is keeping the Green Party nominee off the stage in a post on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KariLake\/status\/1831361664094265551\">X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Make no mistake, if Ruben Gallego wanted Eduardo Quintana to be on that debate stage, he would be on that debate stage,&rdquo; Lake wrote. &ldquo;I believe every candidate on the ballot in November deserves to have their voices heard.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Kari Lake agreed to this debate weeks ago, and now that she&rsquo;s getting cold feet, she wants to change the rules,&rdquo; Hannah Goss, a campaign spokeswoman for Gallego, <a href=\"https:\/\/azcapitoltimes.com\/news\/2024\/09\/05\/republicans-decry-green-candidate-held-out-of-senate-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>told<\/a> the <em>Arizona Capitol Times.<\/em> <\/p>\n<p>She added that the congressman looks forward to participating in the debate &ldquo;under the rules that Clean Elections and the Arizona Media Association established.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Democrats have long been concerned about Green Party candidates siphoning off enough votes from their candidates that Republicans could win. For instance, in 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton lost Wisconsin to former President Donald Trump by just under 23,000 votes, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein earned more than 31,000 votes.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hoffman asked the commission to respond to the allegations by Sept. 12 and said he would confer with his vice chair to determine the next steps in the investigation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Lake and Gallego are expected to square off for 60 minutes on Oct. 9. An average of recent polls shows Gallego <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolling.com\/polls\/senate\/general\/2024\/arizona\/lake-vs-gallego\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>leading <\/a>by 7.3 points. The two candidates have previously aired their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3110922\/kari-lake-ruben-gallego-spar-debate-host-key-senate-contest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>disagreements <\/a>about how the debate should be run.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1723888\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1723888\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republicans in Arizona are raising concerns after a nonpartisan election commission decided to exclude the Green Party&#8217;s Senate candidate from an upcoming debate, labeling the move as illegal. A Republican-led Senate panel is initiating an inquiry into the Citizens Clean Election Commission&#8217;s refusal to allow Eduardo Quintana, the Green Party nominee, to join Republican Kari Lake and Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in a televised debate scheduled for October. Senator Jake Hoffman (R-AZ), who chairs the Government Committee, argued that the commission violated legal standards by altering a rule that mandates candidates must receive at least 1% of total primary votes to qualify for participation. For Quintana, this threshold equated to 12,400 votes; however, he only garnered 282 votes according to reports from the Arizona Media Association.<\/p>\n<p>In his correspondence with the commission, Hoffman questioned whether proper procedures were followed when amending these rules. He noted that this requirement was not enforced in 2022 when Libertarian candidate Mark Victor participated in a similar debate despite receiving only 0.22% of primary votes. Hoffman accused the Clean Elections Commission of intentionally obstructing certain candidates from joining debates and undermining voter transparency mandated by law.<\/p>\n<p>In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Hoffman suggested that he believed there was an effort by the commission to &#8220;rig&#8221; the debate in favor of Gallego and demanded accountability for voters. The commission has not commented on these allegations but previously stated it would maintain its guidelines without changes.<\/p>\n<p>Kari Lake has also expressed support for including Quintana in the debate and criticized Gallego for allegedly preventing his participation. She asserted that if Gallego truly wanted Quintana involved, he would be allowed on stage as well.<\/p>\n<p>Gallego\u2019s campaign responded through spokeswoman Hannah Goss, claiming Lake is attempting to alter rules due to her hesitance about participating now that she agreed weeks ago.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats have historically been wary of Green Party candidates drawing away enough votes from their own candidates which could benefit Republicans; for example, Jill Stein received over 31,000 votes in Wisconsin during Hillary Clinton&#8217;s narrow loss there in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Hoffman requested a response from the commission regarding these issues by September 12 and indicated he would discuss further actions with his vice chair following their reply. The anticipated debate between Lake and Gallego is set for October 9th; recent polls show Gallego leading by an average margin of 7.3 points amidst ongoing disagreements about how it should be conducted<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2657,"featured_media":2338782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Lake_Gallegos_1.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[40487,6733,6203,32902,32076],"class_list":["post-2338781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-arizona-senate-debate","tag-controversy","tag-gop","tag-green-party","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Lake_Gallegos_1.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2338781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2338781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2338781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2338782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2338781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2338781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2338781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}