KNOXVILLE — Gubernatorial candidates Bill Haslam and Mike McWherter will debate on Thursday, Oct. 7, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Sponsored by WBIR, the News Sentinel and the University of Tennessee and its Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, the debate begins at 8 p.m. in the Cox Auditorium in the Alumni Memorial Building on the UT Knoxville campus.
The debate is free and open to the public. For media credentialing information, contact Amy Blakely at amy.blakely@tennessee.edu.
Free parking will be available in Staff Lot 9 on Phillip Fulmer Way, across the street from the building.
The election will take place on Nov. 2, and the two-week early voting period begins Oct. 13. McWherter, the Democratic Party nominee, is a businessman; Haslam, the Republican, is the mayor of Knoxville.
During this debate, the candidates will face questions from a panel featuring Hallerin Hilton Hill, radio talk show host on News/Talk 98.7 WOKI and television talk show host of “Anything is Possible” on WBIR-TV; Tom Humphrey, Nashville bureau chief for the Knoxville News Sentinel and author of the knoxnews.com blog, “Humphrey on the Hill;” and a UT student. WBIR anchors John Becker and Robin Wilhoit will emcee the debate and provide the candidates with some questions solicited from viewers.
The first debate was held Sept. 14 in Cookeville; the third gubernatorial debate, on Oct. 9 in Memphis, is being sponsored by WREG, the Memphis Commercial Appeal and MPACT Memphis.
If you have a question you’d like the candidates to answer, send it to debate@wbir.com.
C O N T A C T :
Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu)