Abigail Spanberger withdraws from debate against GOP’s Yesli Vega, blames unresolved issues

Rep. Abigail Spanberger pulled out of an upcoming debate between her and Republican Yesli Vega, citing unresolved negotiations on protocols.

Ms. Spanberger‘s campaign took issues with a lack of notice on who would be moderating the debate, the security measures that would be in place and whether audience members should reserve tickets in advance.

However, much of the concern was also tied to Ms. Vega announcing in a tweet that conservative radio host Larry O’Connor would be co-moderating the debate with PBS Newshour correspondent Lisa Desjardins.

At the time Ms. Vega made her announcement, the nonpartisan Committee of 100 and the Prince William-Fauquier Area League of Women Voters said they were still reviewing the moderator choices, according to the Prince William Times.

Ms. Vega accused the Democrat of backing out because she didn’t want to answer questions over her ties to state Del. Elizabeth Guzman who is spearheading legislation to permit criminal charges against parents who don’t affirm their child’s gender.

“She doesn’t want to have to answer for her surrogate’s extreme positions on jailing parents if they refuse to affirm their child’s gender identity,” Ms. Vega told WJLA.

Ms. Spanberger, meanwhile, said her withdrawal was due to Ms. Vega not playing fair ball about agreed-upon rules.

“Yesli Vega goes to great lengths to avoid the Virginians she claims to want to serve,” Ms. Spanberger said in a tweet. “For 4 months, our team worked to lock down a nonpartisan debate. The Vega campaign has refused to cooperate. And Vega is lying about what happened.”

The debate, which was scheduled for Oct. 21, was the second one to be canceled between the two running in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.

Last month, Ms. Vega declined a debate sponsored by the University of Mary Washington and organized by the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, Virginia Public Media, the League of Women Voters, and the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce.

The race is considered to be one of the closest in the nation, though forecasters have given Ms. Spanberger a slight edge.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report last month moved the race from a “toss-up” to “lean Democratic.” Inside Elections, a separate nonpartisan forecaster, rated the race as “Tilt Democratic.”

Correction: The upcoming debate was not the only scheduled debate between Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Republican Yesli Vega.