Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane and Democratic challenger Charles Francis will tape a debate on Friday afternoon to be aired by Spectrum News.
The debate will have no live audience, but will air at seven thirty p.m. Friday and ten p.m. Sunday, the station said.
“Spectrum News is committed to hosting a televised debate for the Raleigh’s mayor’s race,” Spectrum assistant news director Walter Campbell wrote McFarlane during discussions on the program.
McFarlane, who is unaffiliated politically, ran some thirteen percentage points ahead of Francis in the October 10 balloting but failed to reach the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Francis, a Raleigh lawyer, has asked for a runoff, which will take place November 7.
“I look forward to the opportunity to discuss Raleigh’s exceptional success under my leadership, what we’ve accomplished when it comes to housing affordability, transportation, sustainability, and citizen engagement, and how our city plans to continue addressing the challenges brought by success, so all our citizens have the opportunity to benefit from our community’s prosperity,” McFarlane said in a statement.
Spectrum’s proposal calls for a Friday taping at the company’s studios on Atlantic Avenue, with moderator Tim Boyum overseeing a thirty-minute exchange with no opening statements and ninety-second closing statements.
McFarlane had appeared in several joint forums with Francis but initially turned down a one-on-one debate.
On October 3, Francis issued a statement challenging the mayor to debate, part of his attempt to portray the incumbent as distant from her constituents.
“There is a pattern of Mayor McFarlane not being open to sharing our her ideas with the citizens of Raleigh,” Francis said in a statement.
