Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren’s campaign says she will participate in a mayoral debate on Thursday,September 7th, but has been told by her doctors not to immediately go back to a full work schedule.
Rival Democratic candidate Rachel Barnhart has called for immediate rescheduling of the two debates that had to be canceled while Mayor Warren was in the hospital last week because of an extreme allergic reaction. Barnhart and Democrat James Sheppard are challenging Warren for the nomination in next month’s primary, and time is running out.
A Democratic primary debate is being held tonight at the downtown library co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the People’s Climate Coalition. Barnhart and Sheppard have accepted.
Warren is taking part in next Thursday’s Chamber of Commerce debate which will have media coverage but won’t be broadcast live in its entirety as the canceled debates would have been. It will also feature all the candidates including Republican and Independent. Barnhart wants at least one more live debate for Democratic voters to make up their minds.
A statement from the “Friends of Lovely Warren” says the mayor is focusing on her health and family first, but will definitely do next week’s debate and is open to changing the format to make it a true debate, including rebuttals by the candidates.