In Arizona's 2022 gubernatorial race, a heated dispute about debate arrangements has rekindled with Republican candidate Kari Lake making serious accusations against Arizona State University and the state's public media network.
The dispute stems from what happened when Democratic contender Katie Hobbs refused to take part in an arranged debate with Kari Lake for the position of governor.
Internal messages show that ASU President Michael Crow and university officials, including former Republic publisher Mi-Ai Parrish, discussed how to respond to the incident, according to recent research by The Arizona Republic.
In these private conversations, Michael Crow allegedly called Lake a "election denier," and Parrish allegedly said that Lake's position on election outcomes should not be discussed on television. After all of this, the university went ahead and offered Katie Hobbs a chance to do a solo interview on Arizona PBS, the television network that is linked with ASU.
In a statement issued on August 7th, Lake characterized these actions as a coordinated effort to silence her campaign and influence the election outcome.
"Taxpayer-funded Michael Crow and taxpayer-funded ASU, along with taxpayer-funded PBS, colluded to prevent me from having a debate forum," Lake stated.
She argued that the officials feared she would discuss election-related concerns and believed Hobbs would have performed poorly in the debate.
Lake has described the incident as both an infringement on her constitutional rights and potential election interference.
Rejecting Lake's statements, ASU has emphasized that both candidates were given the same opportunities. Following the cancellation of the initial debate, ASU and Arizona PBS tried to provide Arizona voters a chance to meet the gubernatorial candidates in person, according to university spokesperson Jay Thorne.
"It was an opportunity provided under identical conditions to each candidate and only one accepted the offer," Thorne stated, noting that Lake chose not to participate in the interview that was offered to both candidates.
A long-standing agreement between the Clean Elections Commission and Arizona PBS to host political debates was terminated as a result of the disagreement, ending an era in the state's electoral coverage.
Because ASU and Arizona PBS are taxpayer-funded organizations, their decision-making processes are more challenged during election seasons.
The controversy continues as both sides defend their actions from what became one of Arizona's most heated gubernatorial races in recent years.
The allegations have raised questions about how public institutions should handle political coverage and whether they gave both candidates fair treatment.
