CLEVELAND -- A political opponent of Rep. Dennis Kucinich interrupted a summit hosted by the congressman after he failed to show up at the City Club to debate her, reported NewsChannel5's Brad Harvey.

With the May 2 primary election just three weeks away, the debate is heating up in the 10th congressional district, where Kucinich is seeking the Democratic nomination in his bid for a sixth term in Congress.

His primary opponent, Barbara Anne Ferris, felt that it was wrong of long-serving Democrat to skip the debate.

"I find it reprehensible and arrogant, particularly when he talked about on his Web site his belief in the power of open debate," said Ferris.

Ferris prompted her own debate by crashing a Summit on universal pre-kindergarten, hosted by Kucinich.

Ferris: "Mr. Kucinich, I just want to ask you..."

Kucinich: "Excuse me?"

Ferris: "I just want to ask you why you refused to show up at the City Club today at noon for our debate?"

She interrupted and then stood for more than 30 minutes as more than 100 school administrators, day-care operators and others watched. Then, Ferris spoke again.

Ferris: "Mr. Kucinich, on your Web site you said..."

Kucinich: "This is not your meeting."

Ferris: "... the power of open debate to restore democracy..."

Kucinich: "This is not about you, Barbara."

It was a tactic some people in the audience didn't appreciate.

"This is my day off and I am here without pay, so I would like to get on with this, thank you," said one summit attendee.

Since the summit was held at his congressional headquarters, Kucinich claims a political discussion would have been against House ethics rules.

When asked why he didn't just show up at the City Club debate, Kucinich responded, "Today, we had two summits. One for veterans and one for childcare and I'm going to keep doing that. That's where I put my time. That's where I put my focus and then let the people decide."