Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Republican challenger Tiffany Smiley will face off in a second forum this month, potentially ending weeks of negotiations over debates between the two candidates.
Murray and Smiley will appear in a one-hour live "town hall" from the KIRO 7 studios in Seattle on Oct. 30, the TV station announced.
The two campaigns already agreed to an Oct. 23 debate in Spokane. But negotiations over a second debate, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 25, had dragged on for weeks, with no resolution. Smiley's campaign, which has pushed for more debates, had agreed to the Oct. 25 date, but Murray's camp demurred.
The newly announced Oct. 30 town hall sidesteps the Washington State Debate Coalition, a statewide alliance of media, education and civic groups founded in 2016, which had been attempting to organize the debates. (The Seattle Times is a member of the debate coalition.)
The town hall will air at 5 p.m. Oct. 30. It will be hosted by KIRO 7's Monique Ming Laven, and the candidates will answer live questions asked by Washington residents.
The Oct. 23 debate will air on multiple media outlets at 5 p.m. from Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center at Gonzaga University. It will be hosted by the League of Women Voters and The Spokesman-Review.
"I look forward to debating Tiffany Smiley in Spokane and I look forward to making the difference between me and my opponent even more clear just a few days later in Seattle," Murray said in a prepared statement.
Smiley's campaign confirmed she will participate in the town hall event. Earlier Friday, her campaign said she would participate in the Oct. 25 event proposed by the debate coalition with or without Murray's participation.
"No incumbent should be afraid to debate their opponent, especially after serving three decades in the Senate," Smiley said in a prepared statement.
