Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kevin Paffrath on Wednesday offered a $50,000 donation to participate in Inside California Politics’ debate for recall candidates, which is set for 7 p.m. Thursday.
In a tweet, Paffrath said he would donate $50,000 to a charity chosen by Inside California Politics or its parent company Nexstar Media, Inc., “if they FINALLY include me in their LIVE recall debate tomorrow.”
Paffrath added another local publication “shows me beating EACH of the candidates in the debate via polling, yet I’m not invited? OPEN UP!”
The reason why Paffrath is not included in Inside California Politics’ debate is that he did not meet Nexstar Media, Inc.’s debate criteria by our deadline of Aug. 4.
On July 22, Paffrath’s campaign signed and agreed to Nexstar’s debate criteria.
The polling qualification was determined by the Nexstar Media Inc. / Emerson College statewide polls published on July 22 and Aug. 3.
Nexstar Media Group California stations commissioned two polls by a third party to determine which candidates would meet its unbiased and nondiscriminatory polling criteria.
Those polls were averaged and rounded to the nearest whole number to determine the polling number for candidates.
Caitlyn Jenner and Larry Elder qualified but declined to attend.
Paffrath has received previous coverage on Inside California Politics.
The California Governor Recall Debate will air from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday on KRON in San Francisco, KTLA in Los Angeles, KSWB in San Diego, KTXL in Sacramento, KSEE in Fresno and KGET in Bakersfield. The debate will also be streamed online on each participating station’s website.
