2016 General Election Debate Schedule Announced

UPDATE: See the latest debate details and information at the 2016 Presidential Debate Schedule. The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) has just wrapped up a year long process to select sites for the 2016 general election presidential debates. These are the debates which happen between the Democratic and Republican candidates for president. The list includes three presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate taking place in September and October of 2016.

List from the CPD:

First presidential debate:
Monday, September 26, 2016
Wright State University, Dayton, OH

Vice presidential debate:
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Longwood University, Farmville, VA

Second presidential debate:
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

Third presidential debate:
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV

CPD Co-Chairs Frank Fahrenkopf and Mike McCurry stated, “We appreciate the many applications we received and are delighted with the sites we have selected. We look forward to working with these fine universities and their students and communities to bring these important civic events to the nation.” An additional campus, Dominican University of California, will lead an initiative to use technology and social media to engage young voters in a discussion of major issues in the 2016 debates (#DUdebate16).

The CPD will announce in the near future additional details about the 2016 debates, including debate format and candidate selection criteria. Moderators will be announced in 2016.

Landing a presidential debate is big news for any college or university given the influx of attention and money to the school and surrounding area. More details to come such as broadcast times, moderators, and the type of format each debate will follow.

Ticketing information will be made available by each of the hosting universities and are typically reserved for friends and family of the candidates and students at the university. If any public tickets are available, they’ll likely be in the form of a lottery. Look for ticketing information next summer.

UPDATE: See the latest debate details and information at the 2016 Presidential Debate Schedule.


Nate Ashworth

The Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Election Central. He's been blogging elections and politics for over a decade. He started covering the 2008 Presidential Election which turned into a full-time political blog in 2012 and 2016 that continues today.

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