Clean Elections Commission reschedules interview with Kari Lake

The Citizens Clean Elections Commission has rescheduled its interview with Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake after abruptly canceling the interview that was planned in partnership with Arizona PBS last week.

The interview will air at 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, on AZTV Channel 7 (KAZT). The commission backed out of the Oct. 12 interview on Arizona PBS after the TV station agreed to a separate interview with Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs.

The commission and Arizona PBS had invited both candidates to a debate, but Hobbs declined. When a candidate agrees to a debate but their opponent declines, the commission organizes a question and answer session for the person who agreed to participate, which was Lake in this case.

Hobbs previously had asked for separate town hall-style interviews, but the commission held a public hearing and rejected the request. When Hobbs announced that Arizona PBS invited her to a separate interview the morning of the scheduled Lake interview — unbeknownst to the commission — that event was abruptly canceled.

Lake lambasted Arizona PBS and Arizona State University President Michael Crow for sidestepping the commission's rules and accused them of a making "backroom deal" with Hobbs. ASU leaders said they were acting out of journalistic fairness, though fallout from the decision has landed on the university.

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Hobbs, meanwhile, is scheduled to appear on PBS for a 30-minute interview at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Arizona PBS is a community service of ASU and broadcasts from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in downtown Phoenix.

ASU journalism school Dean Battinto Batts advised students to attend class virtually during the Hobbs interview, "as we do not know what the onsite circumstances may be around the Cronkite building after 3 p.m.," he wrote in an email.

Reach reporter Taylor Seely at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or 480-476-6116. Follow her on Twitter @taylorseely95 or Instagram @taylor.azc.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How to watch: Kari Lake interview rescheduled after PBS debacle