Potts Seeks Inclusion In Virginia Debates

When Wilder and Coleman were included in the 1994 debates, they were both attracting more than 10 percent of the vote in polls, said Larry J. Sabato, a professor of political science at the University of Virginia.

"You have to be over a certain percentage," said Sabato, who has hosted several gubernatorial debates and is arranging an October debate for the candidates that might include Potts.

Kaine and Kilgore will debate before the Virginia Bar Association on July 16. The debate will not be opened to Potts because it was arranged before he entered the campaign, according to the bar association.

"If it came up now, I guess we would take a look at it, but it also depends on reaching an agreement with all the participants that they're happy with having all these people there," said Breck Arrington, executive vice president of the bar association.

The Democrat and the Republican also will meet after Labor Day in Northern Virginia at a debate hosted by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce. Potts will not be included in that one, either.

"It's never been open to just anyone who wants to declare for the seat. It's always been a debate between the two nominees of the two major parties," said William D. Lecos, president and chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce. "That's the tradition of the chamber debate, and that's the practice we held up this year."

But there are nearly 20 potential debates that the three men could participate in; Kaine already has challenged Kilgore to more than a dozen, saying the candidates should debate in each congressional district. Kilgore has agreed to debate next month and in September and may consider others, said his press secretary, Tim Murtaugh. Potts and Kaine have accepted invitations to several other debates.

"We're going to keep pounding away at this," Potts said, referring to the prospect that Kilgore might not be at the debates when he and Kaine are. "If we have to debate an empty chair, we're going to debate an empty chair."