Democrat Senator backs out of New Hampshire Senate debate

New Hampshire Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan has backed out of a scheduled Senate debate against Republican opponent Don Bolduc, The Epoch Times reports. 

Wendy Hunt, the president of the Nashua Chamber of Commerce, communicated with the Epoch Times via email and told them that "Hassan has asked to appear separately on stage for the Oct. 12 debate," and would not give any more information. 

The New Hampshire Journal quoted Hunt who said that the Hassan campaign reached out to her and said that Sen. Hassan would participate if it was “a stand-alone forum, not a debate," according to The Epoch Times.

According to GBH News, Hassan's Republican challenger Don Bolduc is gaining on her in recent polls, making the race closer than expected. 

Politico reports that Hassan is still ahead by an average of eight points, according to a FiveThirtyEight poll. 

Kate Constantini, the communications strategist for Don Bolduc, said that Hassan hasn't accepted any of Bolduc's offers for her to debate him. 

"It's pretty clear she doesn't want to be held accountable to voters," Constantini told the Epoch Times.