ATLANTA — Democrat Jon Ossoff had the stage to himself Sunday during a debate for one of two U.S. Senate seats in play.

Incumbent U.S. Sen. David Perdue declined to participate in the event that was nationally broadcast.

The decision gave Ossoff the spotlight for a half an hour where he addressed topics from COVID-19 to immigration reform. The 33-year-old candidate did not miss an opportunity to slam his opponent for refusing to debate.

“I truly regret that we haven’t had the opportunity to debate the issues, because the people deserve it,” Ossoff said. “Look, people expect me to come to a debate like this and criticize David Perdue, but it shows an astonishing arrogance and sense of entitlement for Georgia’s senior U.S. senator to believe he shouldn’t have to debate at  a moment like this in our history.”

For a majority of Ossoff’s time, he addressed the government response to the ongoing pandemic — which has worsened in the last few weeks. Ossoff said not heeding warnings from public health experts has been the country’s biggest challenge in getting the virus under control.

“At the root of our government’s failure to respond properly to this virus has been a disregard for public health expertise,” he said. “So I will be listening carefully in the U.S. Senate to the advice of the leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based right here in Georgia, and I will be working to make sure that they have the resources they need to contain the spread of this virus.”

When asked if he would support another economic shutdown, Ossoff said it would be “foolish for politicians” to ignore the advice of public health experts working to save lives.

The Senate hopeful also outlined his ideas for another economic relief package — which Congress has been unable to pass. His plan, he said, would include measures that stretch beyond short-term relief for the difficult days ahead recovering from the virus’ toll.

Additional stimulus checks should be a top priority as well as direct relief for small and minority-owned businesses with checks and balances in place for curbing exploitation of relief by large companies, he said.

While the election and pandemic have largely dominated headlines, the country saw a period in the summer of mass protests and calls for those in power to address police brutality and social justice. Ossoff, who worked for the late Congressman John Lewis, said lawmakers need to pass a new Civil Rights Act.

“As a white man in Georgia, I have never known what it means to fear I could lose my life or face false accusation or miscarriage of justice just because of who I am,” he said. “But I do know that that is a daily fear for Black people across this country.”

Perdue was represented by an empty podium Sunday evening. During the portion of the debate when candidates usually ask questions of each other, Ossoff was given time to respond to questions he would have asked his competitor.

After the debate, Perdue’s campaign released a statement criticizing Ossoff for not presenting specifics of his plans and only giving “blanket” proposals — although the Republican refused to debate at all.

“Jon Ossoff came out in support of blanket amnesty, a national lockdown and made clear he doesn’t want to ‘get bogged down in the details’ about additional COVID relief,” Ben Fry, Perdue campaign manager, said in a statement. “These are serious times and Jon Ossoff just showed how unserious — and unprepared — he really is.”