<p>Undecided voters in <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/maine/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Maine</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4708527/thune-trump-fundraising-paxton-texas-senate-race/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Texas</a>, and <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4556137/ohio-senate-race-set-sherrod-brown-jon-husted/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ohio</a> who want to see their <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/section/senate/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Senate</a> candidates debate head-to-head before the midterm elections may be out of luck.</p>
<p>The trio of battleground toss-up contests, which could determine whether Republicans keep control of the Senate, are the remaining competitive races this cycle without a televised debate on the calendar. The situation has involved candidates accusing one another of avoiding public scrutiny.</p>
<p>In Texas, Democrat James Talarico has agreed to three televised debates from late September to mid-October. Republican rival Ken Paxton has not agreed to any but has stated an intent to participate in at least one.</p>
<p>In Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins has accepted invitations to four televised debates in the coming weeks. Democratic challenger Troy Jackson has not agreed to any and has instead invited Collins to appear at his town halls.</p>
<p>In Ohio, neither Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) nor former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown has agreed to a debate. In 2024, Brown and now-Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who ousted Brown, both expressed desires to face off on the debate stage but ultimately never did.</p>
<p>In contrast, Senate races in Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, and Michigan have already held or agreed to hold at least one debate.</p>
<p>Paxton, who has not participated in a debate since being elected Texas attorney general in 2014, will not debate “because he answers to his billionaire handlers,” Talarico stated. Talarico's campaign has also released digital ads challenging Paxton to “prove us wrong” regarding his participation in debates.</p>
<p>The Collins campaign has offered to hold a debate any day Monday through Thursday next week but has yet to receive a response from Jackson, according to Collins spokesman Shawn Roderick.</p>
<p>“Troy still hasn’t committed, despite eagerly participating in more than four gubernatorial debates and additional forums earlier this year and telling reporters more than a week ago that he’d debate ‘tomorrow,’” Roderick said, referencing Jackson's previous gubernatorial bid and a Senate primary debate. “Why won’t he debate now that he’s running for the Senate?”</p>
<p>The New Hampshire Senate race, another competitive seat, will hold its party primaries Tuesday.</p>
<p>The debate negotiations can also represent a power struggle for media hosts as much as it is for candidates. National, state, and local outlets will extend invitations to both sides for a proposed date, time, and place. However, if both candidates do not agree to participate, the media outlet may lose the opportunity to host a debate to competing outlets.</p>
<p>In previous years, Senate races typically featured multiple televised debates leading up to the November general election. However, candidates now often view the risks of participating as outweighing the benefits, frequently opting for only one debate, if any.</p>
<p>In the 2010 cycle, the five most competitive Senate races featured a combined 17 general election debates, averaging a little more than three debates per contest, according to a Brookings Institution analysis. By 2020, that number had decreased to seven, averaging just over one debate per race.</p>
<p>“In our hyperpolitical world, how campaigns — and candidates — conduct themselves matters,” Brookings wrote in its 2022 analysis. “They thus do democracy a service when they buck the trend and meet on the debate stage — a message they can champion as Americans fret over the future of the nation’s politics and governance.”</p>