Matt Ortega, Democratic candidate for California’s 14th Congressional District, issued the following statement on the cancellation of the May 2 congressional debate after several candidates dropped out.

On Saturday, candidates vying for the open seat in California’s 14th Congressional District were set to debate the issues in front of hundreds of voters. Concerned citizens who want to know who will fight for their housing, their health care, and their children’s futures.

By refusing to appear, Aisha Wahab, Melissa Hernandez, and Rakhi Israni revealed more about their candidacies than anything they could have said on the debate stage.

Throughout this campaign, I warned that a supermajority in the state legislature and an all-Democratic city council cannot fully prepare someone for the turbulence of Congress in Donald Trump’s Washington. Their actions prove it.

We cannot elect a congressperson who fails to appear on the debate stage only to go missing on the national stage. Not now. Not with our nation’s future—our children’s future—at stake.

That’s why I will be there tomorrow to demonstrate to the voters that I will fight for their trust and their futures. I will show up when others won’t.