The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation is changing the date of one of the two televised debates for this year’s statewide primary races.
The primary debate between candidates in the Democratic gubernatorial primary will be held at NBC15 (WMTV-TV) in Madison on Friday, July 27 at 7 p.m. It was previously scheduled for July 13. The debate between candidates in the Republican U.S. Senate race is still scheduled for Saturday, July 21 at 7 p.m. at WSAW-TV in Wausau.
The hour-long debates will be offered to radio and television stations across the state for live or delayed broadcast. Broadcasters in the Madison and Wausau/Rhinelander markets will participate in the debate.
Veteran debate moderator Jill Geisler will moderate both debates. Geisler is a Wisconsin native, WBA Hall of Fame inductee, and holds the Bill Plante Chair in Leadership and Media Integrity at Loyola University Chicago. She’s an author and travels widely to conduct seminars for newsroom managers and leaders.
“Jill is well-respected for her skills in conducting a fair and informative debate,” WBA Foundation President and CEO Michelle Vetterkind said. “We are excited to have her working with journalists in Madison and Wausau to produce a worthwhile debate.”
In order to promote a good exchange of ideas in the time available for each debate, candidate participation in the debates could be limited. Any criteria for determining which candidates will be invited to participate will be released after the June 1 candidate filing deadline.
The WBA Foundation plans to hold debates for the general election candidates in the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races. Details of those debates will be announced at a later date.
The primary election will be held on Aug. 14.
