Three Chopt supervisor's race hits snag

Three Chopt District Board of Supervisors candidate Dishant Shah has cancelled plans to hold a May 20 debate at Tuckahoe Library after his opponent and the moderator said they wouldn't attend. He will host a town hall meeting from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. that night instead.

Shah hoped to debate incumbent supervisor Tommy Branin that night in an event moderated by WRVA radio host Jeff Katz.

But instead of inviting Branin directly, Shah posted a video to his Facebook page April 13 challenging Branin to a debate and released a press release repeating the challenge the next day to media members.

Several weeks later, he selected May 20 as the date.

The Branin campaign didn't learn about the event until Shah's camp e- mailed an invitation May 4, Branin consultant Aaron Evans said. By then, Branin already had scheduled his own campaign event for May 20.

In a May 6 e-mail response to Shah's campaign, Evans offered May 31 as a possible date instead.

"Typically, a campaign that is serious about such an event reaches out directly to the other campaign to work out logistics that respectively fit the schedules of all involved before announcing a debate," Evans wrote.

Shah's response two days later indicated that he would be continuing with the plans for a May 20 debate. He told Evans that he and his campaign had made a second "public request" for a debate in the form of press release April 30.

"After repeated attempts and receiving no response, our campaign began an effort to secure a location and a moderator," Shah wrote. "Given the limited time on the calendar and the agreement of Mr. Katz to host the debate, we are again, in good faith requesting one more time that your campaign agree to the already scheduled debate on May 20th."

Evans responded May 9 and reiterated to Shah that Branin was not available May 20.

"If you had a desire to schedule a real debate, our campaign would have been happy to work out a time that worked for everyone," Evans wrote. "Since you never contacted us directly prior to this weekend and are still unwilling to work out a time that doesn't conflict with either campaign, we are assuming that this is merely a political stunt and you are not interested in having an actual debate."

But Shah pushed on with plans for the event, touting in a May 13 e-mail to the media the "upcoming debate May 20th" between himself and Branin that he said would be moderated by Katz.

That e-mail prompted Evans to ask Shah to stop using Branin's name during promotion of the event, since he would not attend.

Katz also wrote to both parties, indicating that if his schedule permitted, he would moderate the debate on a date when both men could attend.

"I agreed to moderate a debate between Dr. Shah and Mr. Branin but if there's only one candidate at an event I can't envision that a moderator would be needed," Katz wrote in a subsequent e-mail to the Citizen. "My understanding is that the two campaigns are still working to set up a good date, time and location. Once they get that all together, if I am available, I will be more than happy to serve as the moderator."

In a May 14 e-mail to the Citizen, Shah blamed Braning for the debate's cancellation.

"The debate has been cancelled due to Mr. Branin's refusal to attend," Shah wrote. "It is unfortunate for the the citizens of Three Chopt that Mr. Branin has once again chosen to ignore them. Several Three Chopt residents have signed up to attend the event, and I look forward to answering their questions and listening to their issues, which have been long ignored by Mr. Branin."

Branin and his campaign officials reiterated to Shah that they would welcome a debate or public forum on a date and time that fits with the schedules of both candidates.

Shah told the Citizen that Branin’s offer to meet May 31 included no details about a venue or moderator and therefore “ was not a negotiation, it was clearly a political stalling tactic. “

It is unclear whether the two sides will agree upon a date before the June 11 primary.

Branin is completing his first term on the Board of Supervisors after succeeding longtime board member Dave Kaechele, who died shortly after retiring from the board in 2015. Branin previously spent a decade on the Henrico Planning Commission.

Shah, a neuroradiologist who specializes in brain and spine imaging, is a political newcomer who has lived in Henrico for a decade.

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Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported that Shah announced the May 20 date in his initial April 13 Facebook video. The Citizen regrets the error.