Oaklandnorth.net, a news project of the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, has this interview with Laura Wells. Wells was arrested at the October 12 California gubernatorial debate in San Rafael. She wasn’t trying to participate in the debate; she was merely trying to sit in the audience. She was given a ticket. The incident is somewhat reminiscent of Ralph Nader’s experience, trying to be in the audience in a presidential debate in 2000. However, Nader was not arrested, and later the Commission on Presidential Debates sent him a written apology for having barred him from the audience. UPDATE: see this KCRA-TV video of the arrest.
Six of the seven most populous states have minor party or independent candidates on the ballot this year. Of those six states, major party nominees for U.S. Senate, or Governor, or both, have debated at least some of their minor party or independent opponents, in all six states except California. For some reason, major party nominees in California this year are uniquely hostile to the idea of inclusive debates. California last had an inclusive general election debate for Governor in 2003, when Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom McClintock, Cruz Bustamante, Peter Camejo, and Arianna Huffington debated each other.
On October 13, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group in California hosted a debate for the Democratic and Republican nominees for Secretary of State, and did not even announce objective criteria on how they made the decision on whom to invite. Furthermore, the debate was held in a room that was closed to the public. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group did not even inform the other four ballot-listed candidates that the debate was to occur. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group was a primary backer of California’s Proposition 14 in June, which will go into effect in 2012 and will have the impact of confining California’s November ballot to only Democrats and Republicans.