The Commission on Presidential Debates has scheduled three presidential debates next fall with a slightly earlier schedule.
The three debates are now scheduled for September 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX; October 1 at Virginia State University in Petersburg, VA; and Oct. 9 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
A vice presidential debate has been scheduled for September 25 at Lafayette College in Easton, PA.
Debates will begin at 9pm ET and will last 90 minutes.
What is not clear is participation.
The committee has been locked in a battle with the Republican National Committee over the timing and format of the debate. Last year, the RNC withdrew from the commission, which has organized general election debates since 1987. The RNC complained that the commission was “biased” and called for a series of changes.
Donald Trump attacked the general election debates and their moderators, and refused to participate in the second event scheduled for the 2020 cycle, after the commission decided to make it virtual after he was treated for Covid. He participated in a final debate,
The commission also advanced the schedule for the debates. The first debate in 2020 was on September 29; in the next cycle it will be two weeks earlier. The RNC pressured the committee to move up the timeline due to the prevalence of early voting.
Primary debates are organized by the party in conjunction with a host network. But for decades, general election debates have been set by the bipartisan commission and broadcast across broadcast, cable and streaming networks.
