ALGOP debate dead for primary election; Durant says ‘maybe’ to runoff debate

The Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) will not have the opportunity to host a U.S. Senate debate prior to the May 24 primary election.

The ALGOP was in coordination with Nexstar Media Group to host the debate, which would have broadcast across all state media markets.

Sources familiar with the proposed event tell Yellowhammer News that U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) and former Business Council of Alabama head Katie Britt had agreed to an ALGOP-sponsored debate, while U.S. Army veteran Mike Durant was not willing to make the same commitment.

At a Thursday evening campaign event in Dothan, Durant told present media, “Maybe we can do [a debate] during the runoff, if there is a runoff.”

When asked for comment by Yellowhammer News regarding the details of the situation, ALGOP chairman John Wahl offered a statement advising that a scheduling conflict had occurred.

“The Alabama Republican Party is very supportive of an open and fair debate process,” stated Wahl. “We felt it was important that Republican candidates had a debate platform they could trust and that was not biased against Republicans. We offered our U.S. Senate candidates the opportunity to join in a Republican Primary debate sponsored by the ALGOP. At this time it does not look like a Senate primary debate will be possible because of scheduling of the candidates.”

The party chairman remained hopeful that a debate could take place before a candidate notches the GOP nomination after the June 21 runoff election.

“We are hopeful that a debate may still be possible in the runoff. The Alabama Republican Party would like to make this opportunity possible for both our candidates and the people of Alabama,” concluded Wahl.

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL