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Aaron Gies, Democratic candidate for Congress in New York's 23rd Congressional District, is challenging incumbent Congressman Nicholas Langworthy to participate in additional live, in-person debates with voters across the district.
Gies made the challenge directly to Langworthy in a public encounter Sunday. A video of the encounter, recorded and posted by the Gies campaign, is gaining attention online as voters across the district respond to the exchange.
Gies is now calling on Langworthy to make a public commitment to a series of debates held in different parts of NY-23, a geographically large district stretching roughly 230 miles from Chautauqua to Tioga County and approximately 100 miles from South Lockport to the Pennsylvania border.
"People in this district deserve to hear directly from the people asking for their vote," said Gies. "This district is too big, and the issues facing our communities are too important, for voters to be kept at arm's length from their representatives."
Gies pointed to Langworthy's record of avoiding in-person town halls with constituents and questioned why the incumbent would be reluctant to participate in a live debate where voters could hear directly from both candidates.
"For me, this is not about putting on a show or scoring political points," Gies said. "It is about accountability. If we are asking our neighbors to trust us to represent them in Washington, then we should be willing to stand in front of them, answer their questions, and defend our records."
Gies is calling for debates in communities across the district, rather than limiting voters to a single, only-televised event in one geographic area. WETM is hosting that debate on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m.