Cotton-Pryor debate begin a week of candidate debates in Arkansas

After a year-and-a-half of attack ads and press releases, Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, will debate on the same stage twice this week: first on Monday in a debate sponsored by AETN, and then on Tuesday in Fayetteville in a debate that will be broadcast on the state’s ABC stations across Arkansas and CSPAN nationwide.

AETN will host debates involving candidates for the other major statewide and congressional offices over the course of this week.

The 90-minute AETN Senate debate will be held at Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas at 2 p.m. Monday. It will be live streamed at AETN’s website, www.aetn.org, and then broadcast on AETN at 8 p.m. Libertarian Party candidate Nathan LaFrance and Green Party candidate Mark Swaney also will participate.

Pryor and Cotton will debate again at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville’s Global Campus. The 60-minute debate will be broadcast live on KATV, KATV.com, KAIT in Jonesboro and KHBS/KHOG in Northwest Arkansas. The event is sponsored by the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce. Talk Business & Politics Editor-in-Chief Roby Brock will moderate the Fayetteville debate.

AETN’s debates will be at UCA’s Reynolds Performance Hall and will be live streamed at AETN’s website, www.aetn.org, as they happen and broadcast on AETN that evening. The U.S. Senate and governor’s debates will be 90 minutes. The rest will be 60. Third party candidates will participate. Steve Barnes, journalist and host of AETN’s “Arkansas Week,” will host. Admission is free and will be on a first-come, first-served basis, but audience reaction will not be permitted.

The AETN governor’s debate will occur at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16, and will broadcast at 8 p.m. Participants are Republican Asa Hutchinson, Democrat Mike Ross, Libertarian Frank Gilbert, and Green Party nominee Joshua Drake.

The rest of the debates are as follows:
• Monday, Oct. 13 – 2nd District Congress. Candidates are Patrick Hays (D), French Hill (R), and Debbie Standiford (L). Taping and live streaming, 10 a.m. Broadcast, 7 p.m.

• Tuesday, Oct. 14 – 3rd District Congress. Candidates are Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, and Grant Brand, (L). Taping and live streaming, 10 a.m. Broadcast, 7 p.m.

• Tuesday, Oct. 14 – 4th District Congress. Candidates are Bruce Westerman (R), James Lee Witt (D) and Ken Hamilton (L). Taping and live streaming, 2 p.m. Broadcast, 8 p.m.

• Wednesday, Oct. 15 – Secretary of State. Candidates are Susan Inman (D) and Jacob Holloway (L). Incumbent Secretary of State Mark Martin (R) declined to participate. Taping and live streaming, 10 a.m. Broadcast, 7 p.m.

• Wednesday, Oct. 15 – Attorney General. Participants are Nate Steel (D), Leslie Rutledge (R), and Aaron Cash (L). Taping and live streaming, 2 p.m. Broadcast, 8 p.m.

• Thursday, Oct. 16 – Lt. Governor. Participants are Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Little Rock, John Burkhalter (D), and Christopher Olsen (L). Taping and live streaming, 10 a.m. Broadcast, 7 p.m.

• Thursday, Oct. 16 – Governor. Participants are Joshua Drake (G), Frank Gilbert (L), Asa Hutchinson (R), and Mike Ross (D). Taping and live streaming, 2 p.m. Broadcast, 8 p.m.

• Friday, Oct. 17 – 1st District Congress. Participants are Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, Jackie McPherson (D) and Brian Wilhite (L). Taping and live streaming, 10 a.m. Broadcast, 7 p.m.