Atlanta, GA — The Atlanta Press Club will host a series of debates on April 28 ahead of the May 21 primary, but several prominent incumbent Democrats have not committed to attending.

Lauri Strauss, Executive Director of the Atlanta Press Club, told Decaturish that U.S. representatives Lucy McBath and David Scott have not confirmed their attendance. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis also declined to attend.

Georgia Supreme Court judicial races are nonpartisan and incumbent Adam Pinson is “still in conversations” with the press club about attending.

Decaturish editor and publisher Dan Whisenhunt will be co-moderator of APC’s DeKalb County CEO debate.

The Press Club is encouraging all incumbents to attend.

“We are delighted that so many candidates have confirmed their participation in the April 28 Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Debate Series. However, none of the incumbents in the debates we are hosting plan to participate at this time,” the Press Club’s press release says. “They have all officially declined or have yet to confirm their participation. This is the first time in the history of our debate series that so many incumbents have failed to take part.”

Here’s the full announcement from the Press Club:

ATLANTA, April 25, 2024 — On Sunday, April 28, The Atlanta Press Club (APC) will host the 2024 primary election debates for key races across Georgia. But several incumbent candidates have either declined or have not yet committed to participate in the debates.

In an effort to encourage all candidates to commit to their respective debates, the APC today issued this statement:

We are delighted that so many candidates have confirmed their participation in the April 28 Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Debate Series. However, none of the incumbents in the debates we are hosting plan to participate at this time. They have all officially declined or have yet to confirm their participation. This is the first time in the history of our debate series that so many incumbents have failed to take part.

We ask that all candidates confirm their participation by Friday, April 26. 

The Atlanta Press Club believes it is the responsibility of people running for public office to answer questions from their local media that will help inform voters before they cast their ballots.

If a candidate is running for public office, the candidate should be willing to participate in the democratic process, which includes attending debates and fielding questions from journalists and opponents.

If any candidate decides to not participate in a debate, it is the policy of the Atlanta Press Club that the candidate will be represented by an empty podium.

Details of the April 28 Debates

The Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Debate Series will host primary election debates for Georgia Supreme Court, U.S. Congressional Districts Two (R), Three (R), Six (D) Thirteen (D), Georgia Supreme Court, Fulton County District Attorney, and DeKalb County CEO. The debate series will take place at Georgia Public Broadcasting (260 14^th Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30318) on Sunday, April 28.

The debates will be available for viewers to watch live on GPB.org, on The Atlanta Press Club Facebook page (www.fb.com/TheAtlantaPressClub), and on GBP-TV at later dates (see below).

All candidates who qualify to have their name on the ballot are invited to participate in the Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Debate Series. The complete schedule is below.

Sunday, April 28, 2024

Race	Tape and Livestream	GPB-TV Broadcast	WABE Broadcast
Congressional District 6 Democrats	10:00 a.m.	April 29 at 7:00 p.m.	May 1 at 4:30 p.m.
Congressional District 13 Democrats	11:15 a.m.	April 28 at 4:00 p.m.	May 1 at 5 p.m.
Congressional District 3 Republicans	1:00 p.m.	April 28 at 5:00 p.m.	May 2 at 3:30 p.m.
Congressional District 2 Republicans	3:00 p.m.	April 29 at 5:00 p.m.	N/A
Georgia Supreme Court	4:45 p.m.	N/A	May 2 at 4:30 p.m.
DeKalb County CEO	5:45 p.m.	N/A	May 2 at 5:15 p.m.
Fulton County District Attorney	6:45 p.m.	N/A	May 1 at 4 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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