Lieutenant governor's debate called off

A local debate between the candidates for lieutenant governor has been canceled after sparks between the campaigns.

The nonpartisan Prince William Committee of 100 planned to host Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican, and his Democratic challenger, Jody Wagner, on Thursday at George Mason University’s Prince William campus.

But negotiations between the election camps over the use of footage of the event broke down, according to the Committee of 100, which holds forums throughout the year on a variety of topics.

“It is extremely unfortunate that a disagreement between the campaigns precludes their participation and the ability of Prince William citizens to hear firsthand their ideas and response to the issues,” Committee President Michele Saggese said in a prepared statement.

The main sticking point was whether the campaigns could use video or audio of the debate in marketing materials.

Campaigning Monday in Occoquan, Wagner said that her opponent’s campaign wanted there to be no use of event footage, but her camp thought that “ridiculous.”

Both sides should be able to use footage as long as it’s not sliced and diced to take comments out of context, the former state secretary of finance said as she walked down Mill Street.

“When they threatened to drop out of the debate, we said, ‘Look, we’re willing to be reasonable,’” Wagner said. “‘We won’t put anything up except either the whole debate or a whole question. You know, we’re not trying to do a gotcha moment.’”

She characterized the situation as Bolling not wanting to debate. She said she initially challenged the lieutenant governor, the only statewide incumbent running this year, to five debates. Then he seemed to agree to two, she said, and, “now he’s backed out of one.”

The remaining debate is slated for next month in Roanoke.

Bolling campaign manager Matt Wells disagreed with Wagner’s assertions. He said that negotiations were ongoing until Wagner issued a press release Sunday saying that Bolling had threatened to “pull out of the event at the last minute.”

That was a “cheap political low blow,” Wells said, and made it hard to figure the Wagner campaign could continue to negotiate in good faith.

He confirmed that the “no use” video provision was a bone of contention, and he noted that gubernatorial candidates R. Creigh Deeds and Robert F. McDonnell had one in a debate held last week by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce.

But he said talks were continuing until Wagner’s press release, which brought a “point of no return.”

“We were still talking about it,” he said.

Wells said his side had compromised on other matters, such as the choice of the moderator, the format of the event and other issues. However, he said there were no finalized rules for the debate, as Wagner's campaign claimed in the press release, and he noted that the Committee of 100 planned to videotape the event itself, which the Bolling campaign had no problem with.

In addition, Wells said that debate organizers hoped to keep negotiations of terms private.

Michelle Trenum, program chairwoman for the Committee of 100, said she didn’t require a vow of secrecy from the campaigns. But she said the organization was “surprised to see” Wagner’s press release.

Mainly, though, she said, “I think everybody’s disappointed.”

Staff writer Jonathan Hunley can be reached at 703-369-5738.