After more than week of attacks from his opponent, gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont has agreed to debate Dan Malloy Tuesday, Aug. 3 for a previously scheduled televised debate.
Lamont, who appeared at a gubernatorial forum in Storrs Thursday morning, said he would consider debating Malloy.
Justine Sessions, Lamont’s spokeswoman, confirmed late Thursday morning that her candidate would in fact agree to the debate Malloy to set the record straight. She said she hopes Malloy can stick to the issues and stay away from the personal attacks.
“Ned has decided the best way to clear the air is with a debate,” Sessions said.
“I’d hoped that we could keep this campaign focused on the issues important to Connecticut families, but in the past week, Dan has gone negative, launching a series of false attacks about me and my business,” Lamont said. ” I’m not going to let Dan’s false claims stand, and I believe the best way to clear the air is to challenge him face to face in another debate next week.”
“I’m glad Ned’s finally agreed to debate,” Malloy said.
“I hope Ned will agree to a wide open format that allows us to engage each other directly in a real conversation. Ned himself has said he doesn’t like the ‘1 minute canned response format.’ I couldn’t agree more. So let’s not do that.”
Malloy also asked Lamont to consider asking The Day and News 8 to reconsider hosting the debate that was canceled by the news organizations when Lamont declined the invitation.
The Aug. 3 debate, which was never canceled despite Lamont’s initial decision to decline the invitation, will be sponsored by WFSB and CPTV. It will be moderated by Dennis House and John Dankosky. The debate will be aired initially at 3 p.m. on WFSB and will be re-aired on CPTV and WNPR.