Rep. Betsy Markey finally acceded to a debate that included her Republican opponent Cory Gardner and the two third-party candidates in CO-4, American Constitution Party candidate Doug Aden and independent candidate Ken “Wasko” Waszkiewicz.
Markey had previously scuttled planned debates not involving all four candidates, arguing that fairness demanded all candidates be represented. Gardner’s campaign responded by accusing the freshman incumbent Democrat of hiding from voters and attempting to change the ground rules at the last minute.
The Denver Post reported that the debate was fairly tame, despite controversy over a recent ad from Gardner’s campaign that misidentified Markey’s votes with Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts. The ad has subsequently been pulled by the station and revised.
Gardner hit Markey on debt saying, ”You want a shovel-ready project we don’t need? It’s digging more debt.”
A 9NEWS “truth test” says a Markey ad claiming Gardner supported a tax on wind was “blown away.”
Gardner–“I generally defer to Congress on matters that are full of wind” (2:28 in):