SAVANNAH, Ga. — On Friday night, incumbent Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock will face Republican challenger Herschel Walker on the debate stage. The two candidates have so far only agreed to one debate, to be hosted by WSAV’s Tina Tyus-Shaw and WAGA’s Buck Lanford.
The Savannah forum is likely to be the only debate the two will have, after months of cat-and-mouse games between the two camps’ operatives. Warnock agreed in May to three debates, only to face silence from Walker. In early August, Walker indicated that he had accepted an invitation. It was not, though, one of the three that Warnock agreed to.
The three previous debates were to be hosted by WTOC in Savannah, the Atlanta Press Club, and Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism in Macon.
Larry Silbermann, WTOC’s vice president and general manager, says he’s not sure how his station lost out on its bid to host the debate.
“It’s been reported that one of the things they — Nexstar — was willing to do that we weren’t was to give the candidates the topics ahead of the debate. That may have been a factor. Beyond that, I don’t know,” he said. How and when Nexstar, the owner of WSAV in Savannah, began pursuing the debate isn’t very clear.
The debate will be aired live on 95.5 WSB and in the WSBRadio app tonight at 7pm EDT.
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