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The campaign of state Sen. Chris Marr this week falsely accused his Republican opponent of withdrawing from a weekend candidate’s forum “at the last minute.”
The candidate’s forum was held on Saturday at the North Spokane library, 44 E. Hawthorne Road, and was sponsored by the American Association of University Women.
Marr, the Democratic incumbent, is in a high-spending battle with Baumgartner to retain his seat representing one of the most competitive districts in the state.
Judy Blair, public policy co-chairwoman of the association, said Baumgartner never accepted an invitation because of a scheduling conflict.
“He wasn’t able to attend from the beginning,” Blair said.
Here’s what Marr’s campaign said in a news release: “Recent Spokane resident and 6th District political candidate Michael Baumgartner today withdrew at the last minute from a non-partisan forum set up by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) of Washington, in what was supposed to be an informative session with Baumgartner and 26 year Spokane resident and longtime business leader Chris Marr.”
Baumgartner and Marr would not have appeared in the same forum, anyway. Blair said she split candidates who face each other on the November ballot into two events to keep the discussion civil. Eight candidates appeared in two different forums.
Marr said Tuesday that he heard secondhand that Baumgartner cancelled soon before the event.
Marr said “you have to ask yourself” why Baumgartner didn’t attend a forum that focused on women’s issues. Baumgartner “probably would not have fared well on those issues in front of that group,” Marr said.
Baumgartner’s campaign responded to Marr’s news release with its own release, accusing Marr of being “desperate.” It called the accusation about Baumgartner’s absence from the forum part of an “unscrupulous and dishonest attack campaign.”
Jim Camden is a veteran political reporter for The Spokesman-Review.
Jonathan Brunt covers Spokane City Hall for The Spokesman-Review.
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Dazzeetrader11 on September 14 at 9:38 p.m.
Typical of Marr. Spiinning something from nothing. It’s a very desparate move this lying. He’s done it before….this time people who care are finding the truth and pushing back.
Just like the used car salesman who’s hungry for a sale, Marr taints everything. DO your own research people…you’ll soon see both Murray and Marr are mixing truth and lies for their advantage.
The only reason Marr won last time was simply that Brad Bensen ( the incumbent) didn’t campain. Sheer arrogance.l Once in office Marr lied again and did what he wanted instead of what he promised. The wide difference in the primary giving Baumgartner the lead should hold up. It’ll get worse with Marr’s lies and taints. He has literally nothing to point to in his 4 years in the senate. NOTHING. If a candidate has done nothing, and lies about what he’s done…why on earth would anybody vote for him?
VOTE Baumgartner….he’s honest, has a sterling track record and supports lower taxes in Spokane.
PlanB on September 14 at 9:45 p.m.
Typical case of two unqualified imbeciles running for the same position. Has either of these bozos ever taken Government 101? If so, they didn’t pay attention.
Marr: “I’m a used car dealer!”
Baumgarner: “I was in Iraq!”
Idiotcracy 101.
WillyPeter on September 15 at 7:45 a.m.
And I was in Viet Nam…so I’ll go with the guy who was in Iraq… almost every time.
johno on September 15 at 10:27 a.m.
Why are you turning Bumgartner’s refusal to stand before Spokane voters in a debate with his opponent into a negative for Chris Marr? The true story, the indisputabel fact, is that Bumgartner failed to face Marr head to head. Shouldn’t that be the story? Whether intended or not this story shows real bias and I question your judgement at the very least, if not your objectivity.
wes1es on September 15 at 10:37 a.m.
WillyPeter - Baumgartner was never in the military. He worked for Civilian Police International as a consultant, yet he continues to say that he served in the military. I served my country and I am extremely offended that he says he served.
When you serve you have to stay in the service for 4 - 6 years at minimum. When you work as a consultant, you can quit when things get too much for you.
Why isn’t this covered also along with Monarch’s comment?
CalJones on September 15 at 4:14 p.m.
Wes1es- show me exactly where Baumgartner said he served “in the military.”
I guarantee that statement exists nowhere except your imagination.
He served as a diplomat in Iraq, and on contract with the state department in Afghanistan. This has been covered over and over again. Even watch his commercial.
Sheesh, more lies from Chris Marr.
spokanesausage on September 15 at 5:19 p.m.
Monarch, Did you even read the article? They would not have even been there at the same time.
I voted for Marr last time, but I won’t make that mistake again.
ZagChuck on September 15 at 7:11 p.m.
Democrat Candidates do not want to talk about the issues right now, because they have nothing to talk about. In the last few years they have destroyed the economy, destroyed job growth, spent more money than ever before, and Democrats in DC and right here in Washington, controlled both houses of congress and the executive office.
Their solution to every problem seems to be “throw money at it, and hope it goes away.” It’s not going away, it’s getting worse.
The Democrats have racked up more debt than ever, and haven’t yet balanced a budget at either the state or federal level. Now its election time and they want your vote. But they can’t talk about the economy, jobs, deficit spending, government growth, or tax increases. They’ve overspent all of our money, and hoped it could buy your votes, but they can’t talk about that either.
Instead, the Democrats have gone back to the old playbook. They’ve decided dirty campaigns, mudslinging and name calling will work for them again this election cycle. They want to distract you from the facts. They have failed us at every turn, and don’t deserve to be returned, but they’re gonna do their best to hide it, and they’re gonna use the media and their deep pocketed special interest groups to help them.
Now it’s time for us to stand up and send them a message. Our message is simple, they are finished! Join us as we ignore their personal attacks on solid Republican Candidates, investigate thoroughly the voting records of the incumbents and where they’ve stood all along on the issues, not just the last 6 months. Then, send them to the back of the unemployment line.
Christa_Hazel on September 24 at 5:35 p.m.
Why hasn’t the Marr campaign changed the website press release to reflect the actual circumstances involving this story?
JBlim on September 24 at 7:18 p.m.
zagchuck says: “Democrat Candidates do not want to talk about the issues right now, because they have nothing to talk about. In the last few years they have destroyed the economy blah blah”
Oh how easy it is to forget history. Do you not remember how the stock market and the banking system went into a death spiral at the end of Bush’s eight years in office?? Then you expect a miracle worker to come in and fix the problem overnight:
http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-jobs-lost-in-the-bush-and-obama-administration-2010-2