FLORENCE - Democratic S.C. Senate District 31 candidate Stephen J. Wukela said Tuesday he is eager to debate Republican incumbent Sen. Hugh Leatherman, but thus far, Leatherman has refused all invitations to do so.

Wukela and Leatherman were invited by the Florence Area League of Women Voters to participate in a public debate, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 14, on the campus of Francis Marion University. Wukela accepted the invitation, while Leatherman respectfully declined because of scheduling conflicts.

“Over the last few weeks, several people have asked me why I wouldn’t agree to debate Sen. Leatherman, and I wanted to clear up that misconception today,” Wukela said Tuesday during a press conference at his law firm.

“The senator and I both received an invitation to debate from the League of Women Voters, and I immediately and enthusiastically accepted their invitation because I have great respect for the League of Women Voters and the tradition of civic-minded discourse they continuously represent,” he said. “I believe Sen. Leatherman and I owe it to the citizens to have an open and honest public discourse about the issues that affect this district.”

In the league’s invitation to Leatherman and Wukela dated Sept. 7, league president Libby Godbold proposed Oct. 22 and Oct. 28 as alternative dates for the debate in the event that Oct. 14 wasn’t compatible with both candidates’ schedules. But in his response to the League of Women Voters, Leatherman said his schedule would not permit him to participate on those dates either.

In a Sept. 20 letter written to the League of Women Voters on the senator’s behalf, Leatherman spokesman Robby Dawkins said the senator’s schedule was full.

“The Senator’s duties as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, along with his duties as a member of the Budget and Control Board, take a considerable amount of time,” Dawkins said in the letter. “His schedule has already been booked for the evenings proposed.”

If the proposed dates were the only problem with the League of Women Voters debate invitation, Wukela said he’s willing to rearrange his schedule to fit the senator’s.

“I’ll be more than happy to move my schedule around to debate the senator any time his schedule will allow,” Wukela said. “We’ve got a month before this election, and I think sometime between now and then, we should be able to find at least one day or evening that the senator’s schedule will accommodate.”

But Dawkins said Tuesday that between Leatherman’s legislative duties and campaign activities, the senator’s schedule is completely full from now until Election Day.

“Chairman Leatherman early on accepted an invitation to participate in the League of Women Voters’ recent candidate forum at the library in Florence, where he and his opponent stood side by side and answered many questions from the audience,” Dawkins said.

“Right now, the senator’s extremely busy with his work and his campaign from very early in the morning to very late at night, and his schedule just won’t allow for any additional joint appearances.”

Dawkins said Leatherman’s record in the legislature speaks for itself.

“The senator is always available to talk to or meet with any constituent who wants to discuss a concern or issue,” Dawkins said, “and we invite the citizens to examine the senator’s record and make their decision based on that.”

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