Valatie, NY – Stunningly, Antonio Delgado has declined to participate in a debate with candidates John Faso, Steve Greenfield, and Diane Neal hosted by the Oneonta League of Women Voters and the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce. The rejection comes on the heels of Delgado attempting to falsely claim John Faso was ducking debates, even though Faso was the one who initially invited candidates to do so.
“Antonio Delgado is intent on disenfranchising as many voters as he can,” said Joe Gierut, communications director for the Faso campaign. “A donor of his along with Democratic D.C. lawyers are still engaged in a quest to have independent candidates thrown off the ballot, and now he refuses to debate with each of the qualified candidates in Delaware County. It’s clear that Antonio Delgado also realizes that his debate performance in Ulster exposed his reliance on memorizing Pelosi-issued talking points and poll-tested answers. Or maybe he doesn’t think voters in the rural portions of the district deserve to host a robust conversation of the issues. It’s a shame that Mr. Delgado has to be publicly goaded into debating, and it’s equally shameful he doesn’t see the voters in the rural regions of the 19th District as a priority.”
The Oneonta/Delaware Co. debate that Delgado rejected would be the first debate outside of Ulster, Dutchess, or the Capital Region. This is the only debate being offered in Delaware or Otsego Counties.
John Faso has accepted five debate invitations: the Ulster Co. Chamber of Commerce, the Dutchess Co. Chamber of Commerce, WAMC, Spectrum/Capital Tonight, and the Oneonta League of Women Voters/Delaware Chamber of Commerce.
The Delgado campaign has shown zero reservation with willfully misleading voters, and falsely accusing John Faso of dodging debates. This is not the only instance of this tactic. Just this week, they admitted to running a false attack against John Faso on the so-called ‘age tax’. The fact check is here: https://johnfaso.com/