The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journaland published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
WASHINGTON — The Democratic and Republican nominees for president would debate three times next year if both candidates agree to a schedule released Monday by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
“The United States’ general election debates, watched live worldwide, are a model for many other countries: the opportunity to hear and see leading candidates address serious issues in a fair and neutral setting,” co-chairs Frank Fahrenkopf and Antonia Hernández said in a written statement. “This tradition remains unbroken since 1976.”
The first presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.
That would be followed on Oct. 1 by a debate at Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia. And a third presidential debate would be held on Oct. 9 at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
The vice presidential candidates are scheduled to have their debate on Sept. 25 at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.
The debate at Virginia State University would be the first presidential debate hosted by a Historically Black College or University.
The Democratic nominee will likely be President Joe Biden and at the moment former President Donald Trump is leading in the GOP polls, though he has several challengers.
Trump has not attended any of the Republican primary debates, often choosing to hold rallies instead.
It wasn’t immediately clear Monday if any of the candidates running for president had committed to participating in the debates.
