As promised, Democrat candidate for governor and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox sent Gov. Kay Ivey a letter on Tuesday, challenging her to a series of debates between now and November’s general election.

Maddox foreshadowed the letter in a speech to the Alabama Press Association last Saturday.

“With our state being in its most corrupt period in history, it is paramount that those who want to be governor engage in a public debate,” Maddox said in the speech.

Gov. Ivey’s campaign responded to the letter in a statement.

“Walt Maddox refuses to say if he supports Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court, it’s impossible to get a straight answer from him on gun rights, and he’s all over the map on abortion,” the statement said. “It seems the person Walt Maddox should be debating is himself.”

Maddox’s proposal includes two debates, one on issues of education and economic development and another on health care, mental health, and infrastructure. It also proposes that the two candidates hold two townhall events, one in a large city and another in a rural county.

Today’s exchange reflects a larger dynamic that has been playing out in the gubernatorial campaign since the June primaries.

Maddox has tried multiple times to coax Ivey into a debate and subsequently criticized her for deferring, at times reaching back to the Republican primary debates – in which Ivey did not participate – in an effort to demonstrate her unwillingness to talk about the issues.

Ivey has responded in-kind, knocking Maddox for being a Democrat and most recently, for not supporting President Trump’s recent Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

@jeremywbeaman is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News