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"Vote Smarter, Vote Marter for Congress!"
Marter for Congress releases statement on the cancelled League of Women’s Voters Candidate Forum scheduled for October 7
OSWEGO, ILLINOIS (October 7, 2024) -- Jim Marter for US Congress, Republican nominee IL-14, has been issuing a challenge for months now, for opponent Lauren Underwood to debate in-person at the historic Lincoln-Douglass Debate Site in Illinois’ 14th District.
The Underwood Campaign continues to avoid this opportunity, even though the City of Ottawa and the area Chamber of Commerce is on board to have a safe, historic and necessary event for the voters of the district to see and hear from the candidates, applying for the job of representing them.
A League of Women’s Voters’ invitation to an in-person “Candidate Forum” was eventually accepted by both the Underwood and Marter Camps and it was scheduled for Monday, October 7th.
Jim Marter was clear early on that a “pandemic style” Zoom meeting would be unacceptable and that at bare minimum, the voters deserved an in-person event with an opportunity for the public to participate.
"It is truly disappointing the LWV have decided, without any good reason, to cancel the 'in-person' candidate forum for US CONGRESS in the 14th Congressional District of Illinois," said Marter.
"It was planned and agreed upon, the people of the 14th Congressional District of Illinois deserve better, and I will not insult them with a virtual only appearance. It is completely unprofessional to have an in-person forum without inviting the public and limiting each candidate to 2 people. Again, I was shocked, as I have personally participated in multiple candidate forums by LWV and NOT ever was the public not invited."
The LWV gave just 2 days’ notice of their mysterious change to a “virtual only” event, with foreknowledge that this format was unacceptable to the Marter Campaign. It’s unclear if the Underwood Campaign was consulted in this decision but there is some evidence they may have been involved.
The League said in their letter announcing the change, “When we have received your confirmation, stating that you agree to attend or not to attend the virtual forum, we will take the following action. We will email you a link to the zoom meeting if both candidates agree. If one or both candidates do not agree to the virtual format, we will send you notification that the Forum is cancelled.”
Jim Marter officially declined as the LWV should have expected, knowing that Mr. Marter said a virtual-only format is inadequate to serve the interests of the voters. Marter added, “In a Zoom/virtual forum, people would have no idea if I was debating Miss Underwood or her staff,” referencing the Daily Herald interview in which 3 staffers were allowed to be on the Zoom call with Ms. Underwood while no such courtesy was offered in the invitation.
“The people have no faith in a Zoom call where they can’t see the surroundings, whose helping or what resources candidates are using. That’s why I opposed this format and all parties were aware of my stance on this, from the beginning. A forum by definition is a public meeting and open discussion. When they changed the format, they cancelled the event themselves. I just confirmed the cancellation. This doesn’t pass the smell test.”
"I'd like to remind everyone that Candidate Underwood, when running against Congressman Randy Hultgren, demanded to have a debate in person and the request was granted, on October 23, 2018, at the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville. I believe accountability, accessibility and transparency are still important to voters and I'll be asking the voters if they agree.”
"My challenge to Miss Underwood to a Lincoln Douglas Debate at the historic Lincoln Douglas Debate Site in district, in Ottawa, Illinois still stands. That would showcase the rich history of our district and benefit not only the voters but the entire communities involved. My original proposal was a series of seven debates but Ms. Underwood seems more interested in running out the clock than having to face the voters and defend an abysmal record that has created so much hardship in the district."
Jim Marter is the 2024 Republican Nominee for US Congress to replace Democrat Lauren Underwood for Illinois’ 14th Congressional District. He is available for interviews by replying to this email or calling the campaign HQ phone number.
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