Kari Lake and Ruben Gallego Showdown: Will They Face Off in a Debate?

PHOENIX — With Arizona’s Senate seat up for grabs in November, a potential debate looms large between Republican nominee Kari Lake and Democratic nominee Ruben Gallego.

Lake emerged victorious in Tuesday’s Republican primary election. Meanwhile, Gallego faced no competition for the Democratic nomination. They are vying to replace Kyrsten Sinema, who opted not to seek re-election.

A Gallego spokesperson confirmed that Gallego is open to debating Lake before the election. On the other side, Lake’s spokesperson emphatically stated, “Kari Lake will 100% debate. Absolutely.”

The structure and format of the debate, however, may stir controversy and are subject to interpretation.

Tuesday night also saw Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb lamenting the lack of a debate with Lake, after losing the primary to her. “I think it would have been an opportunity to show the difference in experience,” Lamb said.

However, Lake had a different take, asserting to her supporters, “We did our debate on May 23. Yes, we did.”

Lake and Lamb both declined the invitation for the Citizen’s Clean Election debate, although they appeared together in a web-streaming event hosted by the Association of Mature American Citizens. This event was billed as a “candidate forum,” where both candidates answered questions from a moderator.

According to the League of Women Voters, a true debate involves at least two candidates, is structured to avoid promoting one over the other, and includes direct, face-to-face exchanges. Their virtual appearance lacked the interaction element typical of traditional debates.

Lamb labeled the web-stream as a non-debate on his YouTube channel, although he titled it “Mark Lamb and Kari Lake Debate.”

Experts suggest that genuine debates, filled with substantive arguments, are becoming rare. Craig Allen, a professor at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, said, “The days of the rock ’em sock ’em debates are over.”

The last presidential debate between Trump and Biden featured controlled microphone usage, focusing debates as more orchestrated events. Allen added, “There’s little incentive to take chances in debates anymore.”

Hope remains for more civil dialogue in the future. “I think a time will come when we can get back to a civil dialog between the candidates,” Allen said. “When that will happen? I don’t know.”