West Virginia congressional candidates Moore, Parsi to debate next month

Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., and Ace Parsi, his Democratic opponent in the November general election, have agreed to a debate on live radio next month.  

The debate will air live Oct. 14 on WRNR Radio and Television in the Eastern Panhandle, Moore posted Wednesday on the social media platform X. The station did not respond to an email seeking more information Thursday. 

Parsi said Thursday that Moore’s debate announcement comes after Parsi went to Moore’s Washington, D.C. office and called on him to debate in four regions of the congressional district: the Eastern Panhandle, the mid-Ohio Valley, the Northern Panhandle and North Central West Virginia. Parsi said while he has agreed to the Oct. 14 debate, his campaign is not backing off its demand for three other debate events. 

“We believe that West Virginians in the different regions of the district are worthy of a real election and candidates that aren’t doing whatever they can to dodge those voters until election day,” Parsi wrote in a text message to West Virginia Watch. 

Moore’s campaign did not return an email seeking details about the debate and whether he plans to participate in other debates with Parsi. 

Parsi, an Iranian immigrant and former Morgantown community organizer, won the May Democratic primary for U.S. House district 2  over teacher Stephanie Spears Tomana and U.S. Navy veteran Steve Wendelin. 

Moore, the former West Virginia state treasurer, was elected to Congress in 2024 and is running for a second term.