Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley’s has called on fellow Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders to demand more debates.

In an email sent to Sanders' New Hampshire State Director Julia Barnes, O'Malley's New Hampshire State Director John Bivona wrote that both campaigns must push the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to book a debate within the Granite State.

Bivona's email comes in response to Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said, "We are missing a golden opportunity to contrast our ideas to the right-wing extremism of the Republican Party. This is unfortunate and a blown opportunity by the leadership of the Democratic National Committee. ... The senator believes debates generate more interest in the democratic process, that more viewers would turn into more voters and that when there are more voters Democrats win."

Bivona's email acknowledged that New Hampshire would be an "ideal location" for another Democratic debate and multiple media sponsors and hosts may be available.

"Let's join together, commit that our candidates will participate in another New Hampshire debate and work out the logistics for making this happen. I'm happy to talk more whenever works for you," wrote Bivona

New Hampshire was already host to the third Democratic presidential primary debate on Dec. 19, the final Saturday before Christmas, which was watched by 6.71 million viewers -- the lowest debate audience, for both major political parties, during the 2016 presidential election season.

The next debate is scheduled for Jan. 17, 2016, in Charleston, South Carolina, which is currently set as the final debate before the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.

New Hampshire is scheduled to host a presidential forum on Feb. 3,2016, known as the "Live Free for Die" forum, but campaigns have been making the call to swap the forum into an official debate.

In a statement released on Dec. 30, Bivona further challenged the Sanders campaign to help push the DNC to sanction more debates.

"Saying one thing and doing another is the oldest trick in D.C., so we're sure that Senator Sanders' campaign will want to work together to secure another New Hampshire debate in the new year. Today, we ask Senator Sanders and his campaign to get serious about joining our effort to call on NH1 News to change their forum to a debate," Bivona said in a statement sent to Latin Post.

"All of New Hampshire benefits from robust dialogue and debate of the serious challenges facing our families whether special interests like the DNC agree or not. Let's make sure that Granite Staters hear from all the candidates in prime time. It has been great to see supporters from all three Democratic campaigns working together to call for an additional debate before the primary, and we hope Senator Sanders will as well."

Briggs, in a statement via NH1, said, "Regarding debates, we've been consistent and clear all along that Bernie thinks there should be more debates with all of the candidates including Secretary Clinton. Given the big crowds he's drawing, like 3,200 last night in North Las Vegas and 2,000 the night before in Reno, it's clear that people want to hear more about how to change the rigged economy and the corrupt campaign system that props it up. He thinks the more people get engaged and excited the better Democrats will do on Election Day and we're convinced that more debates would be an important part of getting more people involved."

Sanders and O'Malley have spent months calling for both fair and more debates. In June, Sanders wrote a letter to DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to take into consideration a series of issues he's encountered during campaign stops, ranging from discussing voter turnout and having debates in non-early primary or caucus states.

Since the DNC officially announced last August that there will only be six debates for the Democratic candidates, O'Malley's campaign was quick to label the DNC's debate process as "less democratic" and fails to give voters in early states with sufficient opportunities to hear the candidates.

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has also spoken in favor of more debates.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Politics Editor Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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