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(From the-signal.com and The Beacon) Scott Wilk, who is expected to seek the Republican nomination for state Assembly next year, has challenged fellow Republican and Assembly candidate Patricia McKeon to a series of public debates (see entire Scott Wilk letter below). McKeon parried with an email (see Patricia McKeon’s entire response below) noting the election is a year off and telling him, “I think you are getting a little ahead of yourself. It’s been just a couple of weeks since your last election and you’re already focused on your next campaign.”

Wilk won re-election to the Santa Clarita Community College District Board of Trustees earlier this month, besting a candidate who accused him of trying to use the position as a stepping-stone to higher office.

In a copy of an email he sent to McKeon on Tuesday, Wilk invited the wife of Congressman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, to take part in 10 debates between now and the June 5 primary.

Read more from The Signal here: Wilk calls on McKeon to debate

Scott Wilk’s entire letter to Patricia McKeon

November 29, 2011

Patricia McKeon

McKeon for Assembly 2012

Dear Mrs. McKeon,

I was pleased to read in this morning’s Santa Clarita Signal that you have begun to give voters the opportunity to learn your positions on issues that concern California’s hardworking families.

Given the challenges the state faces, I think you’d agree voters deserve every opportunity to hear from all of the candidates in this race. As such I am writing today to invite you to 10 debates between now and the June 5,2012 Primary.

I think each of our communities in the 38th Assembly District deserves to see us in person to discuss and defend how we would work to improve California. That’s why the debates need to be “Lincoln – Douglas” style, where each candidate gets 3 minutes to speak on topics with a series of several shorter 1 minute back and forth opportunities that allow candidates to directly engage. A neutral moderator from the media or a community group will be there to keep debates civil and enforce time rules.

This format gives citizens and the press the opportunity to see how candidates think and react in the real world. It forces candidates to be able to defend their positions, to have depth of knowledge on the issues. Please respond to this invitation this week by [email protected]. I am looking forward to engaging the public is a serious political discourse on those issues they care most about.

Sincerely,

Scott Wilk

 

Patricia McKeon’s Response

Scott

Thank you for the nice comments.  As I told Mr. Holt, I’m being very deliberate in how I’m developing my campaign organization and I’m doing so on a schedule defined by the volunteers working so hard on my behalf.  I have no doubt that you and I will have many many opportunities to engage the public and to discuss the issues facing California and to that end I look forward to doing so.

Let’s be honest, your request is really a Campaign 101 tactic for a candidate who needs to raise their profile.  As you and I know, the election is nearly a year away and the only people paying attention to this race are you, me, our supporters, and those you carboned on your note to me.

I think you are getting a little ahead of yourself.  It’s been just a couple of weeks since your last election and you’re already focused on your next campaign. I know that some think that campaigns are about merely reaching for the next rung on the political ladder, but I don’t share that view.

In the meantime, we both have a lot of work and a lot of listening to do before we do anything else.

Sincerely,

Patricia