Supreme Court Justice Susan Owens says she won't participate in a debate scheduled tonight because conservative blogger Stefan Sharkansky is one of two moderators.

The other moderator is the PI's Joel Connelly. Originally Josh Feit of the Stranger had that role, but he was bumped after complaints from the campaign of Sen. Stephen Johnson, Owens' opponent. The Johnson camp was unhappy with what the Stranger had written about him, including an endorsement last week of Owens.

Owens' campaign issued a press release this afternoon saying the justice would not attend because Sharkansky has donated to Johnson's campaign, supported him on Sound Politics and "is an outspoken critic of Justice Owens and many of her colleagues."

The event is scheduled for 5 p.m. today before the Seattle Downtown Republican Club.

Sharkansky says the event will go on without Owens.

UPDATE: Fawn Spady from Johnson's campaign says it wasn't that the Stranger endorsed Owens that led them to reject Feit. The PI endorsed Owens and Johnson would accept Connelly on the panel.

The Stranger was unprofessional in the ed board meeting and used personal attacks verbally and in their pieces.