AUGUSTA, Maine — The three contenders for governor will meet Wednesday evening at the Augusta Civic Center for the first of three televised debates.
The debate takes place at 7 p.m., during the Maine State Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards dinner. It will be broadcast live, statewide on WCSH Channel 6 in the southern part of the state and WLBZ Channel 2 in the north and Down East.
Jen Webber, a communications consultant for the Maine State Chamber, said about 600 people were registered to attend the event, making it the chamber’s best-attended gubernatorial debate ever.
There will be no opening statements, according to WCSH assignment manager Ted Varipatis, nor set time limits for candidates to respond to questions from the moderator, WCSH anchor Pat Callaghan.
Unlike previous debates, the candidates will be allowed to directly interact with one another, although in a limited way: Each will be allowed to pose one direct question to one of his opponents, not both. At the conclusion of the debate, each candidate will be allotted one minute for a closing statement.
Varipatis said the candidates had not received advance notice of what questions will be asked during the debate.
The most recent statewide poll — an online survey of 540 likely voters conducted Oct. 6-12 by Ipsos for the Bangor Daily News — showed Michaud leading LePage by a 6-point margin, 42-36, with Cutler’s support at 16 percent.
However, polling trends as compiled by aggregators such as Real Clear Politics and Huffington Post show the race between Michaud and LePage tighter than ever, with Cutler far behind.
Two more gubernatorial debates, both of which will be televised, are scheduled for next week. The CBS 13/Bangor Daily News debate is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20. The final debate, broadcast live by WMTW-TV and WABI-TV, is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21.
Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.
