MEDIA RELEASE

Lt. Governor Duke Aiona has announced he has conditionally accepted eight debates and forums in the general election for Governor, and he is negotiating with other organizations to accept more.

“Unfortunately, my opponent was unwilling to answer my challenge to debate in-depth the critical issues facing our working families and small businesses,” Aiona said. “We have only five weeks left to show voters how we will govern so they can make an informed decision in the general election. Once it became clear that my opponent didn’t want to immediately focus this campaign on the issues, we agreed to any debates we could. I’m ready to debate right now.”

Aiona has conditionally accepted the following debates and forums:

KHON 2 News General Election Debate
Office of Hawaiian Affairs Gubernatorial Debate
Kaiser Permanente Gubernatorial Candidate Forum
Good Beginnings Alliance Gubernatorial Candidate Forum
Kona Candidates Forum (Monday, Oct. 18 at Kealakehe High School)
Hawaii News Now Gubernatorial Debate
KITV Gubernatorial Debate
PBS Island Insights

On Sept. 19, Duke Aiona challenged his opponent to six moderated, one-hour debates in the weeks leading up to Election Day. Aiona said his opponent Neil Abercrombie responded only through media reports, but would not directly accept or reject the the challenge.