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Press Releases
Seals Criticizes Opponent for Foot-Dragging on Debates
Thursday, August 17, 2006
WILMETTE, IL - Dan Seals, Democratic candidate for the Illinois 10th Congressional District, today criticized his Republican opponent, Rep. Mark Kirk, for refusing to participate in a series of debates.
"I sent Rep. Kirk a challenge to six debates in September and October, and asked that his campaign get back to us by August 9th so that we could organize these vital discussions swiftly and efficiently," Seals said. "More than a week has passed, and Rep. Kirk has not contacted either my campaign or me."
"But I can understand Rep. Kirk's reluctance to debate. His record in Congress can't be defended easily, including not winning passage of any of the legislation he authored during his time in Congress. Instead, he is a Congressional enabler and cheerleader for the Bush administration. And he is out of step with the thinking of the 10th District voters who are clearly dissatisfied with the direction of the country."
With two nonpartisan groups in recent weeks publishing reports that the Illinois 10th Congressional district race has tightened, an indication that voters are paying attention to the race, a debate of the issues between the candidates is clearly what voters want, Seals said.
"Because Rep. Kirk or his campaign has so far refused to talk to us about debates, we're willing to work with third party groups to arrange a debate schedule," Patrick Mogge, Campaign Manager for Dan Seals for Congress, said.
The 10th District Race
The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan Washington political publication, recently upgraded the 10th District race between Dan Seals and Mark Kirk to its Competitive House Race chart. In a district that has voted for a Democrat in every presidential race since 1996, incumbent Congressman Mark Kirk votes with his party 91.49% of the time (from the nonpartisan Congressional Quarterly). Additionally, Kirk holds the Republican leadership position of Assistant Majority Whip, which gives him the responsibility of enforcing party discipline and lining up members on critical party votes.
About Dan Seals
Seals lives in Wilmette with his wife, Mia, and three young daughters. Born in Chicago, he received a master's in public policy from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and served as a Presidential Management Fellow during the Clinton Administration in both the Department of Commerce and Sen. Joseph Lieberman's office. Seals went on to earn his MBA from the University of Chicago. He is currently on leave from his position as Director of Marketing at GE Commercial Finance while he campaigns full time.
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