OPB's presidential debate is not going to happen. The Oregon Republican Party canceled the debate scheduled for next Monday.
Organizers say the two leading candidates, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, declined to participate.
The state party's chair, Allen Alley, announced Thursday that negotiations with the candidates failed to bring them together.
Alley told OPB's "Think Out Loud" that debate organizers tried everything they could think of to make it work.
OPB studio set up for the GOP Presidential Debate scheduled for March 19th.
Michael Clapp / OPB
"We tried even things like adjusting the date -- which would have been brutal for all of us, including the folks at OPB. And we even tried a change of venue, to possibly move it to another studio, another public broadcasting studio closer, more convenient for the candidates. We could not accomplish that, and in fact, we're not going to have the debate," Alley said.
OPB CEO Steve Bass says the debate organizers tried "every angle" including the possibility of moving the event to Chicago.
When Mitt Romney's campaign declined to be part of the March 19th debate, an aide said it was because he'd be in Illinois for the upcoming primary.
In the end, the only confirmed candidate for the debate was Newt Gingrich.
