Minnesota needs a debate commission

Independence Party candidate for governor Hannah Nicollet announced last evening she would not be allowed to participate in a gubernatorial debate on Tuesday with DFL Governor Mark Dayton and Republican Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson. The debate is being sponsored by the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce and the Duluth News Tribune.

Nicollet's campaign was informed of the decision by David Ross, the president of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce.

Ross bluntly explained in his e-mail to Nicollet's campaign that the campaign staff of Dayton and Johnson had previously agreed to a debate featuring just Dayton & Johnson. To now include Nicollet would be "a violation of the trust we were afforded by the Dayton and Johnson teams." The reason Nicollet would not be allowed to participate in the debate, according to Ross, was "that simple."

Minnesota has three major political parties: The Minnesota DFL Party, the Independence Party of Minnesota and the Republican Party of Minnesota. In the first gubernatorial debate in Rochester, Dayton cited the "Major Party" status of the Independence Party as a reason Nicollet should be included in future debates. Dayton added that in 2010, Independence Party candidate for governor Tom Horner participated in debates.

In fact, the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce and the Duluth News Tribune included Horner in a gubernatorial debate they sponsored in 2010. They also allowed Green Party Candidate Ray "Skip" Sandman to participate in a congressional district debate just last week between DFL Congressman Rick Nolan and Republican Stewart Mills.

But in this election, Horner endorsed Johnson's candidacy for governor, as did the Duluth News Tribune and the political action committee for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. The Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce is a member of the Minnesota Chamber Federation and works closely with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

After I wrote the previous paragraph, I was not as surprised Nicollet would not be included in Tuesday's debate.

I am a Republican and I will not be voting for Nicollet next month, but I do believe she should be included in the debates. Nicollet's arbitrary exclusion from Tuesday's debate is one reason why Minnesota needs a non-partisan debate commission for state campaigns, similar to the organization which establishes presidential debates. The Commission on Presidential Debates was started in 1987 "to ensure that debates, as a permanent part of every general election, provide the best possible information to viewers and listeners."

Looking beyond the race for governor, this issue of debates exists at nearly all levels of public office. The League of Women Voters has had a virtual monopoly on debate organization in Minnesota legislative races. But recently they have come under justified criticism by not allowing public debates between candidates from being recorded. A representative of the League of Women Voters recently went so far and stopped a debate and called the police when an individual attempted to video record a debate at Minnetonka City Hall.

Johnson's campaign has refused requests from Dayton's campaign for any lieutenant governor debates. There are also few debates scheduled between candidates for other statewide constitutional offices.

In late August, 276 political candidates received payments totaling $2,376,081 in public subsidy money from the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board for use on their campaigns. Nicollet did not qualify for the public subsidy funds. Dayton received $534,071, while Johnson received $389,408. I suggest that as a condition of receiving payments from the taxpayers to fund their campaigns, candidates be required to participate in a series of debates with all major party candidates.

When the taxpayers are funding campaigns, the decision of who can appear in a debate should not be determined by a media outlet or interest group. Minnesota already establishes in statute the difference between a "Major" and "Minor" political party candidate. It is up to individual voters to decide if Nicollet is qualified to earn their vote to become governor.