Ohio's major-party U.S. Senate candidates have announced a series of debates, including one in Columbus.
The campaigns of Republican incumbent Rob Portman and Democratic challenger Ted Strickland, the former Ohio governor, said Wednesday they've scheduled the three face-offs for October.
The events will be in Youngstown Oct. 14, in Columbus on Oct. 17 and in Cleveland on Oct. 20.
The series takes place over six days and notably skirts the state's heavily blue-collar northwest quadrant and Portman's hometown of Cincinnati.
A joint statement from the campaigns says the debates will provide Ohioans the chance to learn about and evaluate both candidates' stands on critical issues.
Each debate will run an hour, with 90-second answers, 90-second responses and 30-second rebuttals. Both candidates will have two minutes for opening statements and two minutes for closing statements.
