3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT — U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly won’t be debating his Third District opponents in Mercer County and has agreed to only a single debate as he runs for re-election, a move his opponents in the race called disrespectful, cowardly and arrogant.

Kelly’s campaign manager Josh Wilson confirmed Thursday that Kelly won’t appear at a League of Women Voters of Mercer County debate that was being planned for Oct. 17 and so far has agreed only to a television debate in Erie a week before the Nov. 6 election.

“He has a very busy campaign and congressional schedule throughout the month of October,” Wilson said in an e-mail.

Kelly’s decision not to participate in the Mercer County debate was news to the local League of Women Voters.

“We have not had any word from Mr. Kelly and as far as we know the debate will go on as scheduled Oct. 17,” Lyn Weidner, league co-president, said. “That however could change.”

The Erie debate will be the only chance for voters to see Kelly, Democrat Missa Eaton and independent candidate Steven Porter on the same stage, fielding questions and interacting with each other face-to-face.

It won’t air live but will be recorded for broadcast Oct. 25 on public television station WQLN, which can be seen locally only on Armstrong Cable in the Jamestown area; Time Warner in Greenville and Jefferson and Lackawannock townships; and on satellite services. WJET, an Erie station that can only be seen locally in the Jamestown area and on satellite, will broadcast the debate Oct. 27.

The debate is likely to be aired at some point on the Pennsylvania Cable Network, a public affairs channel that is available on Time Warner in the Shenango Valley.

Kelly’s failure to respond to inquiries about a Crawford County debate scheduled Oct. 10 prompted a story Wednesday in The Meadville Tribune, which was planning to sponsor the meeting.

Eaton and Porter jumped on the story, issuing news releases criticizing Kelly’s decision.

“Anyone in elected office owes the voters an account of their actions.  And the voters deserve to hear what their tax dollars have been up to over the past two years since my opponent took office,” Eaton’s release said. “It’s time to give him a progress report and when it comes to jobs in this area, he gets an F.

“Elections are a choice, so voters need to hear both sides of the issues, each set of plans to take on our problems. … (My) opponent does not seem to respect the democratic process.”

Porter said Kelly’s decision to limit debates was “incredible” and he taunted the incumbent.

“I was under the impression that Kelly played football for Notre Dame. Now what could a great big Notre Dame football player be afraid of? Dr. Eaton, a middle-aged college professor? Dr. Porter, an aging diabetic? Or maybe it’s his record in Congress,” Porter’s release said.

Porter, who ran twice before for the seat as a Democrat, jabbed both Kelly and the two-party system: “I find his arrogance not only a sign of political cowardice, but a symbol of exactly why the major parties continue to ignore the people of this nation.”

The Meadville Tribune story also included a quote from an e-mail Wilson sent in response to the newspaper’s queries that stated Kelly would be “campaigning aggressively in Northeast Pennsylvania this fall.” The newspaper noted that the Third District, which was redrawn last year, encompasses Mercer, Erie, Crawford, Butler, Armstrong, Lawrence and Clarion counties, which are all in northwest Pennsylvania.

Eaton’s campaign seized on what was clearly a typo in Kelly’s release, which was headlined, “Does Kelly know where his district is?”

Wilson acknowledged the geographic mixup was his fault. “I think it’s one thing to make fun of me for a careless but honest mistake but to suggest that Mike seriously doesn’t know where his district is located is a pretty silly accusation,” Wilson said.

“I guess we can add ‘iPhone malfunction’ to the political lexicon,” Wilson told the website PoliticsPa, which led its story on the foulup thusly: “Let he or she who has never committed a typo throw the frist stoen.”