AUSTIN—Sen. Wendy Davis, the Democratic nominee for governor, agreed to join GOP nominee Greg Abbott for a Sept. 30 televised statewide debate in Dallas hosted by KERA, The Dallas Morning News, Telemundo 39/KXTX-TV,and NBC (Channel 5). It is the second of two debates scheduled.
The announcement comes days after a prickly debate over debates erupted between the governor candidates. Last Friday, Abbott, the state’s attorney general, withdrew from a different debate scheduled on Sept. 30 hosted by WFAA-TV and the Texas Tribune citing an inability to agree on debate format, his campaign said. Later, the attorney general accepted an invitation for the KERA debate on the same day, which his campaign said provided for a more “thoughtful and substantive policy discussion.”
Davis did not immediately accept the invitation, stating then that she would meet with WFAA-TV, a host of the originally scheduled debate, on Tuesday before making a decision.
“After a conversation with KERA this morning, we have agreed to a debate format that should give Greg Abbott the confidence he needs after his multiple losses in the courtroom over the past week,” Davis’ spokesman Zac Petkanas said Wednesday, referring to a school finance case and HB 2 ruling in which the attorney general’s office represented the state.
In Dallas-Fort Worth, the one-hour debate will air live at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30 on KERA-TV Channel 13, KERA 90.1 FM and COZI-TV Channel 5.2. It will be streamed live online at dallasnews.com, texasdebates.org and NBCDFW.com. Questions for the candidates can be submitted via Twitter @keranews using the hashtag #texasdebates.
The two will first spar in a debate Sept. 19 in McAllen hosted by The McAllen Monitor, KGBT-TV Action 4 News and KLTM Telemundo 40. KXAS-TV (NBC5) will carry the debate in Dallas-Fort Worth.