Murray, Smiley agree to town hall in Seattle

Murray, Smiley agree to town hall in Seattle (6:00 p.m.)

Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray on Friday declined a formal debate in Seattle with Republican challenger Tiffany Smiley, and instead agreed to appear in a town hall forum.

SEATTLE - Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray on Friday declined a formal debate in Seattle with Republican challenger Tiffany Smiley, and instead agreed to appear in a town hall forum that will air only on KIRO-TV.

The announcement came after months of negotiations between the Washington State Debate Coalition and Murray’s campaign for a live debate produced by the larger group of media outlets. The coalition, of which FOX 13, KOMO 4, KING 5, KIRO 7, KCTS 9-Crosscut, TVW, KUOW and The Seattle Times are all members, had been working with both campaigns for a debate Oct. 25 at Pigott Auditorium on the Seattle University campus. Smiley’s campaign quickly agreed to the Oct. 25 debate, and pledged to participate whether Murray does or not.

"This final decision is unprecedented for the Coalition and is a huge loss for the voters of Washington state who deserve to hear from officials seeking national or state-wide office. Participating in debates every six years with a coalition of media outlets and partners from around the state is not an unreasonable ask and we’re disappointed that Sen. Murray feels otherwise," said Alicia Crank, the executive director of the Washington State Debate Coalition.

In addition to the town hall on KIRO 7, Murray and Smiley will meet publicly Oct. 23, for a debate in Spokane. The debate coalition is co-producing the Spokane forum with other organizations, allowing FOX 13 and other Seattle-based media outlets to share that with their audiences. FOX 13 airs debates on KCPQ FOX 13 and our duopoly station KZJO FOX 13+. Debates also appear on the FOX 13 livestream at www.fox13seattle.com, and on our mobile apps.

In a statement, a Murray campaign spokesperson said, "Senator Murray wanted to make sure there was an opportunity in Seattle for voters to see there's a clear choice in this election. While our campaign did encourage KIRO 7 to allow all Seattle stations to have equal access, we are glad that Washington state press will have full access to the town hall and that all Washington state TV and radio outside the Seattle DMA will have access to a live simulcast."

FOX 13 will cover the town hall at KIRO 7 as a news event, and also run the full slate of debates produced by the Washington State Debate Coalition, including:

Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. – 26th Legislative District debate between Emily Randall & Jesse L. Young – streaming on www.fox13seattle.com.
Oct. 23 at 5 p.m. – U.S. Senate candidate forum between Patty Murray & Tiffany Smiley – KZJO FOX 13+ and streaming on www.fox13seattle.com.
Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. – 9th Congressional District debate between Doug Basler & Adam Smith – KZJO FOX 13+ and streaming on www.fox13seattle.com.
Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. – 8th Congressional District debate between Matt Larkin & Kim Schrier – KZJO FOX 13+ and streaming live on www.fox13seattle.com. An encore presentation of this debate will air the same night, following Game 1 of the MLB World Series on KCPQ FOX 13. FOX 13 news anchor Hana Kim will serve as the lead moderator.