UPDATE: Kaine agrees to three debates; Cao campaign has not yet received invitations (2024)

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Thursday that he has agreed to three public debates with Republican challenger Hung Cao, who won the Republican nomination just two days earlier.

Cao’s campaign said it has not received invitations for the debates.

“We’re reading about some of these details for the first time,” the campaign said.

However, it added, “Capt. Cao looks forward to participating in televised debates this fall.”

The first scheduled debate, sponsored by the Virginia Bar Association is a month away on July 20 at The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs in Alleghany County.

The final debate is scheduled Oct. 2 at Norfolk State University, which is co-sponsoring the event with WAVY-TV and Nexstar Media.

“In my 30 years of public service, I have traveled throughout the Commonwealth listening to Virginians about the issues that matter most to them, whether it be creating good-paying jobs, making healthcare more affordable, keeping Virginians safe, and standing up for our military families,” Kaine said in an announcement of the debates.

“Virginians deserve to hear from their candidates directly, which is why I am excited to discuss my record of standing up for Virginia at three debates and how I will deliver for every corner of the commonwealth,” he said.

The bar association debate is a traditional kickoff to campaign debate season. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, then a candidate, declined to attend the debate in 2021, citing differences over the debate format and the choice of PBS newscaster Judy Woodruff as moderator.

Marilyn Shaw, spokesperson for the bar association, confirmed that it has not yet extended a formal invitation to Cao because the Juneteenth holiday followed his primary victory. However, Shaw said the association has been working with state Republican Party Chairman Rich Anderson for several weeks to prepare for the debate, which will be moderated by Lonnie D. “Chip” Nunley III, chairman of the board of governors and an attorney at Hunton Willams Kurth in Richmond.

Anderson said that the association contacted him on Thursday morning for information on contacting Cao’s campaign, which he said he provided that afternoon.

With five candidates running in the Republican primary, he said he sent information about the debate “to all of the campaign managers and the candidates” several weeks ago.

The debate announcement kicks off a general election campaign that promises to be closely linked to the presidential election at the top of the ballot between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Trump publicly endorsed Cao, a retired U.S. Navy captain from Purcellville in Loudoun County, who easily defeated four other candidates with 62% of the vote in the Republican primary on Tuesday.

“President Trump and I will win in November, we will secure the border, we will protect Social Security, and we will save America,” he said in declaring victory on Tuesday. “I spent twenty-five years fighting for this country, and I’m not done.”

Kaine ran for vice president in 2016 on the Democratic ticket with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost the election to Trump.

Now seeking his third term after previously serving as Virginia governor and lieutenant governor, Kaine wasted no time this week in mocking his opponent for comments he made during the Republican primary campaign in response to a story in The News Leader in Staunton that alleged he had misled political donors last year as honorary chairman of a federal super political action committee. The super PAC Unleash America raised more than $100,000 purportedly to help Republican candidates in legislative elections for control of the General Assembly, but gave no contributions to state candidates, the newspaper reported.

Cao responded that the federal PAC could not legally contribute to state campaigns, which some of his primary opponents disputed, but acknowledged spending some of the money on legal fees and his expenses in media appearances in New York. He dismissed the story as “a hit job” and called the Staunton paper “podunk.” In a subsequent video forum, he said that it would be “ridonkulous” for him to “drive six and a half hours down to Abingdon ... stand there with four other dudes and to have 30 seconds to answer questions.”

Kaine, in a digital ad, referred to his wife, Anne Holton, whose late father, former Gov. Linwood Holton, grew up in Southwest Virginia.

“Staunton isn’t podunk. We honeymooned here!” he said.