Cho: After Heavy Criticism on Sandy Mailer, Garrett Won't Debate in Front of Constituents

Press Release

Roy Cho, candidate for Congress in the 5th District, today said it is clear that Tea Party incumbent Scott Garrett has no intention of appearing before his constituents in a public debate after a full week of being condemned by a wide range of elected officials and media outlets for a highly misleading mailpiece that pumps up his meager record on Hurricane Sandy relief.

Garrett has refused to reply to Cho's offer of six debates across the district and declined participation in a debate hosted by a wide range of community groups. Instead, Garrett's office has announced he will only agree to debate at times inconvenient to his constituents.

Additionally, Garrett has come under fire recently for misleading claims that rewrite his record on Hurricane Sandy relief. A Star-Ledger editorial this week called Garrett "a champion of fiction, not disaster relief."

Despite a news report Saturday in the Record where Garrett's spokeswoman said the incumbent agreed to an 8:00 a.m. debate on October 24 at Felician College, Cho said his campaign did not receive an invitation from Felician college until via email on 5:05 p.m. Sunday, October 5. The email did not make any mention of a time or format.

"It's extremely odd that Garrett's office claims to have agreed to a debate not only before I was even invited, but that they had already announced a time for it that would preclude all but a handful of voters from even attending," said Cho. "I am thankful to Felician College for their kind offer to host a debate and their cooperation in finding a date and time that is convenient for voters, not an arbitrary time pre-chosen and pre-announced by Scott Garrett's campaign in an attempt to keep the public out."

On Friday, Garrett's office declined participation in a debate sponsored by nearly one dozen major civic organizations, including the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, the Bergen County NAACP, and the League of Women Voters. That forum -- which Cho has committed to attending -- is being held 7:00 pm Monday, October 20 at Temple Israel & Jewish Center in Ridgewood.

Cho and Garrett will square off on a radio debate on WRNJ in Warren County at 11:00 a.m. Friday, Oct 24. However, the WRNJ signal is not strong enough to reach Bergen County, where the majority of 5th District voters reside.

Cho said by attempting to have two back-to-back debate when most voters will be unable to attend and/or listen, Garrett is purposely trying to rig the schedule so as to prevent defending his Tea Party record before voters, including his inaction in providing relief aid in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

"Scott Garrett's disingenuous campaign is all about preventing voters from learning the truth about his record and his Tea Party views," said Cho. "His attempt to rig the debates so that his constituents won't be able to attend shows how desperate his campaign is to keep him and the truth under wraps until Election Day."

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