Senate hopeful Tim Kaine has not accepted an invitation to speak at any of the Fredericksburg Virginia Patriot's (FVP) candidates forums that have been held at the Caroline Street library, but his chief opponent will be there tonight. 

Former Virginia governor George Allen, who is the Republican frontrunner for the same U.S. Senate seat, accepted the invitation to appear tonight, said FVP member Bryce Thorpe. Allen is in a five-way race for the Republican nomination against State Del. Bob Marshall, minister E.W. Jackson, Sr., businessman David McCormick and tea party organizer Jamie Radtke.

The Kaine campaign staff hasn't replied yet to Fredericksburg Patch emails asking why Kaine is unable to attend any of the events. Kaine is in a three-way race for the Democratic nomination against Courtney Lynch and Julien Modica in the June primary.

Allen once had this Senate seat before he lost to Democrat Jim Webb, who is vacating the seat after two terms.

Thorpe said the group has already hosted candidates David McCormick (R), Kevin Childress (I), EW Jackson (R),  Bob Marshall (R), and Jamie Radtke (R).  On Wednesday, Lynch, a Democrat who is challenging Kaine for the Democratic nomination, plans to attend the forum. 

"All the candidate were invited and all accepted except for Tim Kaine," Thorpe wrote in an email. "I talked with a representative of his campaign about 4 times and he said they were trying to work it in their schedule. Finally, he said it wasn't going to work out. In general, I gave the candidates the window of Jan 10 to Jan 31. The idea was to allow them to fit it into their existing schedule rather than having to make a special trip this way."

The Stafford Democratic Committee and the Spotsylvania Democratic Committee also declined to co-host the events, Thorpe said.

The forum starts at 7 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m. The event is not a debate. Instead, the candidates have their own forum to speak to voters for 60 minutes. There will be a 30-minute question and answer session. The event concludes with a 20-minute meet and greet with the candidate.

Here are videos of each of the candidates so far who attended the forum.

Related news: Allen, Kaine Focus on Economy

Below is the exact email the FVA sent to the Kaine campaign about the forum:

Good morning, Thank you again for talking with me yesterday about possible participation in our Fredericksburg Candidate Forums. I wanted to share with you the announcement we are preparing for release. It will not go out for a couple days as we wait to hear from your office and firm up final locations for each forum. While we have not sent this out yet, it will give you visibility into which days in January have already been taken and which ones are still available. The dates have no significance other than they reflect candidates preferences and availability. I talked with the Stafford Democratic Committee this morning about possibly co-hosting your event and that of Ms Lynch and hope to hear from them soon. I think their partnership will provide some perspective and balance to give candidates confidence that this is just what we are advertising it to be...an opportunity for the community to hear from those seeking to be their Senator in 2012. We all benefit from an informed electorate and I am pleased that all the candidates thus far have supported that idea with their participation. Thanks again; we hope you can join us.   

David McCormick (Republican): 10 Jan, 7 PM, Central Rappahannock Regional Library Headquarters (downtown Fredericksburg), 1201 Caroline Street

Kevin Chisholm (Independent): 13 Jan, 7 PM, TBD

EW Jackson (Republican): 20 Jan, 7 PM, Central Rappahannock Regional Library Headquarters (downtown Fredericksburg), 1201 Caroline Street

Jamie Radtke (Republican):  30 Jan, 7 PM, Central Rappahannock Regional Library Headquarters (downtown Fredericksburg), 1201 Caroline Street

George Allen (Republican):  31 Jan, 7 PM, Central Rappahannock Regional Library Headquarters (downtown Fredericksburg), 1201 Caroline Street

Courtney Lynch (Democrat): 1 Feb, 7 PM, Central Rappahannock Regional Library Headquarters (downtown Fredericksburg), 1201 Caroline Street  

The Fredericksburg Patriots are pleased to announce they will be hosting candidate forums to allow local voters the opportunity to meet and hear from our 2012 United States Senate candidates.  The event will allow each candidate to have their own 60 minute forum (not a debate...each candidate will have their own day).  The forums will start with a 10 minute introduction where candidates can share some personal information about who they are, why they are running, and their vision/plan for Virginia and the United States.  That will be followed by a 30 minute question and answer session.  Questions will be gathered ahead of time and will be posed by a panel of those hosting the event.  Currently, we have confirmation from every candidate except for Tim Kaine (though we are working with his office on possible participation).  For Republicans, the forum will be co-hosted by the Spotsylvania GOP.  For Democrats, we are hoping to have the Stafford Democratic Committee co-hosting.  The event will conclude with a 20 minute meet and greet.  These events are designed to be educational and informative.  Anyone interested in hearing from our prospective candidates are invited and encouraged to attend.  If you have questions regarding the event or questions you would like to see asked of the candidates, you may contact Bryce Thorpe at baldbryce@yahoo.com.