June 23, 2006

Mountain Party candidate offers to join Senate campaign debates

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd may not be ready to debate Republican challenger John Raese, but Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson said Thursday he's willing to argue the issues.

Raese challenged Byrd, D-W.Va., on Monday to seven debates before the election in November. Byrd's campaign office has responded by saying it's too early to consider Raese's offer.

Johnson, however, said in a news release that Byrd's challengers should face off alone.

"Neither of us has held public office and the voters deserve to hear our opinions on how we would perform,'' he said, adding that including Byrd is unnecessary because the eight-term senator's record should speak for itself.

Raese spokesman Gary Abernathy said the offer does not include Johnson. "We haven't really thought at all about Mr. Johnson,'' he said. "We're running against Sen. Byrd. That's our focus obviously.''

Raese, a Morgantown businessman, hopes to spoil Byrd's bid for an unprecedented ninth six-year term. Byrd, 88, already is the Senate's longest-serving member.