Epps-Wagner headlines 3 debates in Port Orange on Oct. 21; Shelley-Henry Daytona mayoral debate waiting on venue
Dist. 8 Florida Senate candidates Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, and Frank Bruno, D-Ponce Inlet, have agreed to participate in a 90-minute public candidate debate sponsored and moderated by Headline Surfer on Oct. 21 at the Brannon Center in New Smyrna Beach.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Headline Surfer held eight public candidate debates leading up to the Aug. 14 primary and has held three more so far during the general election cycle. Five more are planned before early voting gets under way and the biggest of them all is a showdown between Republican Dorothy Hukill and Democrat Frank Bruno.
The 90-minute debate gets under way 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21, at the Brannon Center in New Smyrna Beach. It will be moderated by Henry Frederick, the 24/7 Internet newspaper's editor/publisher and an award-winning reporter. This will be the public's only opportunity to see the two political heavyweights go toe-to-toe in a media-style debate.
Citizen participation is encouraged and welcomed. For those unable to attend the debate, Headline Surfer will videotape it for publication online via HeadlineSurfer.com, NSBNews.net and VolusiaNews.net.
Bruno, the term-limited Volusia County chair, was the first to accept when the prospect of two public candidate debates were requested by Headline Surfer three weeks ago. The first debate was planned for Tuesday in Ocala at the Marion County Public Library, but Hukill declined last week, saying she had a scheduling conflict. She did not elaborate.
Headline Surfer wanted the earlier debate in Ocala because the newly created dist. 8 seat encompasses large parts of Marion and Volusia counties and a smaller portion of Lake County. The district was borne out of redistricting because of the census.
The Hukill camp finally agreed to the New Smyrna Beach debate in a 12:01 p.m. Monday text message from Hukill's campaign manager and son, Jonathan Hukill, who wrote: "We are a Yes for debate on the 21st."
Dorothy Hukill followed up two hours later with her own confirmation e-mail, stating, "I'm happy to have this opportunity to participate in a public debate in New Smyrna Beach."
Hukill added, "I've represented New Smyrna Beach as State Representative for District 28, and I have close ties to the community. Having talked to many local residents throughout my campaign for State Senate, I know what concerns they have and what issues are important to them. I look forward to laying out my real solutions to create jobs and grow the economy, protect our quality of life, and invest in our educational system."
Dorothy Hukill followed up two hours later with her own confirmation e-mail, stating, "I'm happy to have this opportunity to participate in a public debate in New Smyrna Beach." Hukill added, "I've represented New Smyrna Beach as State Representative for District 28, and I have close ties to the community. Having talked to many local residents throughout my campaign for State Senate, I know what concerns they have and what issues are important to them. I look forward to laying out my real solutions to create jobs and grow the economy, protect our quality of life, and invest in our educational system."
Bruno said he was pleased that Hukill had finally agreed to debate in public.
"Anytime you have the opportunity to discuss the real important issues like education, economic development and protecting our natural resources, the voters will have a better understanding of where we stand," Bruno said.
Bruno said he was pleased that Hukill had finally agreed to debate in public."Anytime you have the opportunity to discuss the real important issues like education, economic development and protecting our natural resources, the voters will have a better understanding of where we stand," Bruno said.
Bruno said he was ecstatic about the opportunity to debate Hukill on the issues of merit, saying that up to this point, "All she's done is run a bunch of negative TV ads."
Both campaigns have flooded the TV airwaves with intense advertisements paid for by their respective parties -- Bruno with two and Hukill with at least five different ad spots. The ads have run in tandem several times a day on Brighthouse Networks.
A radio ad this week by state Republicans endorsed by Hukill has incensed Bruno and drawn criticism from voters suportive of both candidates because it has two voice characeters with New Jersey-style Italian-American accents describing Bruno as a "political boss" taxing everything in sight and going on trips at taxpayer expense. Here is a link to our story: http://headlinesurfer.com/content/410319-hukill-radio-ad-making-fun-opponent-bruno-new-jersey-style-italian-american-accent-ha.
While Bruno said he was pleased Hukill had stepped up to the plate for the debate in New Smyrna Beach, he said her refusal to debate him in Ocala was a missed opportunity for both of them since he Ocala region is new territory for both candidates.
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The newly created district 8 state senate seat comprises parts of Volusia, Marion and Lake Counties.
"The differences between the manner in which I will represent the people of the Ocala area and the approach my opponent would take could not be more striking," Bruno said. "In fact, a debate between us was being organized by (the) online newspaper as a public service to the people of Marion County. Unfortunately, my opponent ducked the debate, essentially denying the voters a chance to learn more about us both. But I think by going into hiding, my opponent is helping educate the voters."
Bruno, who has $1 million pledged by the state Democratic party hierarchy for TV ads, said Hukill has three times that much. Both have put out several media releases highlighting their treasure chests.
"She is relying on more than $3 million in negative and dishonest advertising against me as her platform," Bruno insisted. "This multimillion dollar smear campaign is the sign of a desperate candidate. But through it all, I am pleased to discuss the issues affecting voters throughout District 8."
Attempts by Headline Surfer to reach Hukill for her reaction to Bruno's assertions went unanswered. The 24/7 Internet newspaper even held off on publication of this story to give her the opportunity to respond.
Because Hukill had agreed to the Oct. 21 debate, Headline Surfer informed Bruno campaign manager Mike Jiloty that though it had considered substituting a candidate forum in Ocala, the 24/7 Internet newspaper decided to focus on preparing for the agreed-upon New Smyrna Beach debate.
Hukill's son had informed Headline Surfer a couple of weeks ago he doubted she would agree to the Ocala debate because of her "heavy schedule," but he did say at the time that was keeping her options open to the idea of a debate in New Smyrna later in October.
Dorothy Hukill told Headline Surfer at a fundraiser at Clancy's Cantina last week in New Smyrna Beach that the requested debate in Ocala was not feasible because of her schedule, reiterating what her son had said. When asked about the New Smyrna Beach debate, she said she was reviewing her schedule. Then on Monday, Hukill's son contacted Headline Surfer and agreed to the Oct. 21 debate at the Brannon Center.
Hukill and Bruno participated in a Tiger Bay debate last month, but anyone who wanted to see it had to pay a fee. The audience was not allowed to ask questions and no one was allowed to videotape or record audio from it. It was moderated by News-Journal Editor Pat Rice.
Headline Surfer was the first media outlet in Volusia County to hold public candidate debates on July 21, at the Brannon Center, eight of them in all as a lead-in to the Aug. 14 primary. They included races for a seat on the New Smyrna Beach City Commission, two county judge seats, the dist. 3 seat on the county council, the county chair, supervisor of elections, clerk of the circuit court and state attorney.
Three days later, the News-Journal, in partnership with Daytona State College held a joint public debate between the candidates for county council districts 3 and 5, moderated by Rice at the Brannon Center, but citizens attending were not allowed to ask questions.
The Daytona paper subsequently held a debate at Stetson University for the county chair race as well as a debate for mayor at the Daytona State College-owned News Journal Center for the campaign for mayor.
Headline Surfer is the only media outlet to hold public candidate debates since the Aug. 14 primary, having already held three last month in the Oak Hill City Commission chambers.
The first debate was the non-partisan race for mayor between current Vice Mayor and Commissioner Linda Hyatt and Doug Gibson, but Hyatt didn't show up. The second debate was for the County Council dist. 3 seat between former elected School Board member Deb Denys and longtime New Smyrna Beach City Commissioner Jim Hathaway. The third debate was for the County Chair seat between former County Council member Carl Persis and Gulf War vet Jason Davis of Edgewater.
These three debates will begin running this week on Headline Surfer because the 24/7 Internet newspaper wanted to publish stories with the recorded videos within 30 days of the Nov. 6 elections. The videos for all three debates have been published all along on YouTube.
The night after the Hukill-Bruno debate, Headline Surfer will hold three more candidate debates in the Port Orange City Council chambers, beginning at 6 p.m.
The first debate is for the non-partisan dist. 3 Port Orange City Council seat between incumbent Bob Pohlmann and challenger Drew Bastian. The second debate is for the partisan dist. 25 State Representative seat between Republican candidate Dave Hood and NPA candidate Christina Kephart. The third and final race of the evening is the non-partisan dist. 2 Volusia County Council race between incumbent Joshua Wagner and challenger Nancy Epps. Headline Surfer will have a complete story on these debates within the next 24 hours, if not sooner.