Republican gubernatorial candidates Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and former Congressman Mark Neumann will participate in a 60-minute debate that will be broadcast statewide commercial free.
The debate will be broadcast on Wednesday, Aug. 25, from 7-8 p.m. The debate will air statewide on MPTV Channel 10 and WISN-TV Channel 12 in Milwaukee, WKOW in Madison, WFRV in Green Bay, WAOW in Wausau, WXOW in La Crosse and WQOW in Eau Claire.
It will be held Eckstein Hall, the home of the law school at the Marquette University in Milwaukee. Mike Gousha, a distinguished fellow in law and public policy at MU who hosts Upfront on WISN-TV Channel 12 and On the Issues on Milwaukee Public Television, will moderate the debate.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the Democratic candidate for governor, was also invited to participate in the debate, but did not accept the invitation, according Dean Maytag, program director of WISN-TV.
“Tom Barrett looks forward and is eager to exchange ideas with whomever wins the Republican nomination for governor," said Barrett campaign spokesman Phil Walzak. "Right now they are in a heated GOP primary and they have to run their race, we don’t know who is going to emerge from that but when Republicans choose their candidate Tom looks forward to debating whoever that is on the issues facing Wisconsin.”
WISN-TV, MU and Wispolitics.com are partnering to host the debate.
Gousha will lead a roundtable discussion with the candidates, followed by live questions posed by citizen groups participating at locations around the state.
Groups of 12 people will be selected from each of the markets the debate will air. Those groups will come up with one or two questions to ask the candidates during the debate, Maytag said.
“It’s really a unique situation,” Maytag said. “We’re working with our partner stations across Wisconsin to really make this a statewide event. There are no preconditions, but we are hoping the groups ask questions that are relevant and important to the people in their regions.”
The groups of individuals will be selected by the partner stations in each market, Maytag said.
“We’ve designed a format to engage viewers in a conversation with the candidates that we hope will move far beyond talking points to an in-depth discussion of the issues facing our state,” Gousha said.
-BizTimes Milwaukee
