Democratic Primary Debate in West Palm Beach
The Florida Press Association and WPBF 25 News will present “The Race for Governor” — The Democratic Primary Debate, live on Thursday, August 2nd from 7-8 p.m.
WPBF 25, the Hearst Television-owned ABC affiliate in West Palm Beach, is the producing television station and will originate the one-hour debate from the WPBF 25 News studios for statewide broadcast. The debate will air in all 10 major Florida markets through a consortium of participating broadcast partners.
Moderating the debate will be veteran WPBF 25 News anchor and multi-Emmy Award winner Todd McDermott. McDermott previously did national correspondent work for CBS in New York, as well as anchored at the CBS flagship station there. Prior to that, he anchored and reported at stations in Washington D.C., Baltimore and Wichita. McDermott also moderated the 2016 U.S. Senate Debate that was broadcast statewide, on C-Span and NPR.
George Bennett, reporter, The Palm Beach Post, and Nancy Ancrum, Editorial Page Editor, The Miami Herald, will serve as media panelists. Bennett has been a reporter at Post since 1992 and has covered politics from city commission races to presidential campaigns. He has crisscrossed Florida to report on every governor’s race in this century and has appeared on CNN, Fox News and other outlets. Ancrum is a New Yorker who has finally come around. She began her career at the now-closed Baltimore Evening Sun and joined the The Miami Herald in 1983. Before becoming a member of the Editorial Board in 1990, she worked as an assistant city editor in the newsroom.
Debate Participants
All five Democratic Party candidates for Governor – Andrew Gillum, Gwen Graham, Jeff Greene, Chris King and Philip Levine – have indicated their intent to participate in the Aug. 2nd debate.
Members of the media who plan to cover the debate and ask questions of the candidates after the debate can apply for credentials at www.debateflorida.com.
The “Race for the Governor Democratic Debate 2018” broadcast is the exclusive copyright of WPBF 25 and the Florida Press Association and cannot be re-purposed on any platforms including digital, Facebook, twitter and multicast channels except for the following television stations.
Participating stations include:
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale WTVJ-NBC6
West Palm Beach WPBF (ABC)
Orlando WESH (NBC)
Jacksonville First Coast News WJXX (ABC)
Gainesville WCJB (ABC)
Tampa/St. Pete WFLA (NBC)
Tallahassee WCTV (CBS)
Pensacola WEAR (ABC)
Panama City WMBB (ABC)
Fort Myers WZVN (ABC)
All audio and video of the Debate are embargoed until the conclusion of the Debate at 8 PM EST. Media outlets may excerpt up to 2:00 minutes of material from the “Race for Governor Democratic Debate 2018” for their regularly scheduled news programs with a mandatory screen credit “WPBF” appearing for the duration of the excerpts.
The Florida Justice Association is a sponsor of the debate. FJA is dedicated to strengthening and upholding Florida’s civil justice system and protecting the rights of Florida’s citizens and consumers. Visit www.floridajusticeassociation.org for more information.
