Pat Meehan A No-Show At Congressional Debate

(CBS) - Republican congressional candidate Pat Meehan was a no-show last night at the League of Women Voter's debate with democrat Bryan Lentz. Despite that fact, Lentz still had an opponent to debate: Jim Schnelling.

Schnelling's candidacy is part Don Quixote and part Machiavelli, and he is the reason Pat Meehan's campaign says the Republican candidate didn't show up for last night's debate. A Bryan Lentz campaign aide helped Schnelling launch his third-party candidacy, and though Schnelling says he is non-doctrinaire, he is likely to take votes away from Meehan.

The Lentz campaign thinks that's just an excuse, skewering Meehan's last debate performance in a campaign ad.

Lentz exploited Meehan's absence, last night. Lentz says, "he is choosing instead to let corporations who are sending money from out of state speak for him."

Reported by Pat Loeb, KYW Newsradio