Bell unhappy with manner of challenge

House District 20 Republican candidate Dickie Bell said Thursday that he will debate Democratic opponent Erik Curren, but said he was disappointed to learn of the debate proposal first from the media.

Curren, the marketing director for the American Shakespeare Center, was called Wednesday and disclosed the idea of debates to The News Virginian before a letter could be hand-delivered a short time later to Bell by Curren’s campaign manager and fiancée, Lindsay Howerton.

Bell, a four-term member of Staunton City Council and a teacher and coach at Riverheads High School, said “we will do the debates. I need to talk to Erik and work out some dates.”

In a prepared statement sent earlier Thursday, Bell said he was “a little disappointed that I was informed by media of the invitation before receiving it from Mr. Curren himself. I do realize that Mr. Curren is relatively new to this area, and may not be very familiar with how we do things. But here in the Valley, if you want to challenge a man to a debate, you do it to his face, not through the media.”

Curren said he had the letter prepared for Bell, and said the disclosure by The News Virginian to Bell before he received the letter was just a matter of timing.

Curren called it “a very small point of protocol. The real issue is does he want to do the debates.”

Bell said of the differences between the candidates, “if Mr. Curren wants to compare his liberal agenda for Virginia with my conservative record of results, I look forward to doing so. In talking to voters in the district, they want to see solutions that work, not more liberal agendas like we are seeing from Washington. I look forward to sharing our conservative ideas to get results throughout the entire campaign – not simply at staged debates.”

Curren said he was unsure “partisan buzzwords are very helpful in an informed and open discussion about issues. I think the voters around here are independent thinkers who are tired of the partisan namecalling of the past. I would let voters judge for themselves my positions and my opponent’s decisions. Voters are more concerned with what works than with some kind of political labels.”

Bell expressed doubt Wednesday about the value of debates in influencing voters.

But Curren said he hosted an arts and economic development forum for Staunton City Council candidates last year that Bell participated in, and said the forum was “considered a useful tool, and people were talking about it for weeks afterward.”

Both candidates are seeking to succeed retiring Del. Chris Saxman, who announced two weeks ago that he will step down at the end of his current term.

Curren has proposed a format of holding debates after Labor Day in each of the district’s four jurisdictions: the city of Staunton and Highland, Augusta and Rockingham counties.