A plea for debates: Jim DeFede

As you may have seen or read, I had offered to host a debate between the candidates for Governor this year: Democrat David Jolly and Republican Byron Donalds.

The debate would have taken place right here in our studio, live from 7 to 8 p.m. in October.

For the better part of a month, I had met with both Jolly and Donalds, as well as their campaigns, and I thought it was likely to happen. Jolly accepted my debate, Donalds accepted some others. And Jolly responded that he wouldn't participate in any debates because he accused Donalds of lying about his record.

I'm not going to get into who is right and who is wrong.

Here is what I know: the real losers in all of this are the voters of Florida.

There should be debates. This state is at a critical moment in time, and the next Governor is going to have to deal with a lot of scary and important issues: property tax reform, the ongoing insurance crisis, how we build an economy that works for everyone, and the role that AI and data centers will play in our future. Not to mention education, the environment, and healthcare.

Voters should see the two candidates side by side, presenting their visions for how they will improve the lives of 23 million Floridians. I believe we can have a meaningful and substantive debate on those issues. And our offer still stands.

CBS Miami is prepared to host that debate.

I hope for the sake of the voters that the two campaigns do something truly groundbreaking – why not try talking to each other and come up with a solution?

Wouldn't that be a true sign of leadership?