TOPEKA — U.S. Senate candidates Barbara Bollier and Roger Marshall are scheduled to debate Saturday for the first time in the general election for a broadcast and livestream on WIBW Radio and the Kansas Radio Networks.
Marshall, a Great Bend Republican serving western Kansas as 1st District congressman, will be on the November ballot with state Sen. Barbara Bollier, a Johnson County Democrat.
They are competing for the seat held by retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican completing a 40-year run in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.
The 90-minute debate is to begin at 1 p.m. Sept. 19 and will be moderated by Greg Akagi, the agriculture director for WIBW Radio and the Kansas Agriculture Network.
The panel of four journalists asking questions of candidates will be Kelly Lenz, senior farm broadcaster at WIBW Radio and Kansas Agriculture Network; Michael Schwanke, anchor at KWCH-TV in Wichita; Jennifer Latzke, associate editor of High Plains Journal in Dodge City; and Tim Carpenter, a reporter with the Kansas Reflector in Topeka.
The U.S. Senate debate ordinarily would be conducted with a live audience at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, but most activities at the annual fair were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The general election is Nov. 3.
“We felt it was important to continue our tradition of hosting one of the first debates before the general election,” Akagi said. “It will give the people of Kansas an opportunity to hear from the candidates and hear what they have to say about issues important to the people of the state.”
The debate will be broadcast live on WIBW (580 AM and 104.9 FM), the Kansas Agriculture Network and the Kansas Information Network affiliates. It will be live steamed on the WIBW News Now Facebook page.
