The original debate, scheduled for Oct. 12, was postponed due to Hurricane Ian and its aftermath.
Four years ago, Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle on Oct. 10, causing widespread damage less than a month before Election Day.Despite the impact, DeSantis and Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum took part in already scheduled TV debates in the governor’s race on Oct. 21 and Oct. 24.
In the U.S. Senate race, though, Republican Rick Scott, then Florida’s governor, was directly involved in hurricane recovery efforts, contributing to the postponement of a CNN debate with Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson that was set for Oct. 16, only six days after the storm’s arrival. While CNN worked to reschedule, that debate was eventually canceled. The network said the candidates “were unable to agree on a new date.” Nelson and Scott, though, had debated on statewide TV before the storm, taking part in an hourlong exchange Oct. 2 from the studios of Telemundo-TV 51 in Miami. This year, for Crist and Scott, the WPEC-TV event is the only debate planned.
John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at [email protected], or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport
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