Photo by Matt Cohen.

Those eager to see Democratic mayoral nominee Muriel Bowser square off against Councilmember David Catania (I-At Large)—who plans to run against her in the general election—in a debate forum will have to wait a while. At least until the end of the summer.

The Post reports that charter-school advocacy group Friends of Choice in Urban Schools invited the two candidates to an education-oriented mayoral forum in June, but Bowser’s campaign declined, saying that she’s not going to debate Catania until he technically qualifies for the general election ballot.

Although Catania filed his mayoral candidacy papers at the Office of Campaign Finance last month, he still needs to get the requisite 3,000 voter signatures in order to officially qualify to be on the ballot. Catania, who has held his At-Large Council seat since 1998, shouldn’t have any problem collecting signatures, but Bowser’s campaign is nonetheless adamant on waiting until the ballot petition deadline passes on August 6. “It’s not about questioning David Catania’s ability to get on the ballot,” Bo Shuff, Bowser’s campaign manager, told the Post. “Like we did in the primary. we’re going to wait until the field is set.”

Catania’s campaign manager, Ben Young, called it “an excuse to avoid a debate, plain and simple.” Get ready for five more months of this.