Markey, Lynch Agree To 6 U.S. Senate Debates

The U.S. Senate campaigns of Democratic U.S. Reps. Ed Markey and Stephen Lynch on Monday announced that they "have reached agreement on a framework for six debates" across Massachusetts.

The Democratic primary race agreement, detailed in a joint statement, calls for three general issue debates in Boston, Springfield and Worcester, and three issue-focused debates on jobs and the economy, domestic policy and foreign policy. The issue debates will be held in Lowell, New Bedford and another location to be determined later.

Debate dates and hosts have not been finalized. The primary is April 30.

Said Markey in the statement:

This agreement ensures we will debate the issues that are most important to Massachusetts in regions throughout the Commonwealth. Voters deserve to hear in-depth debates on the issues facing the state and the nation, and I look forward to scheduling these as soon as possible.

Said Lynch:

I am glad that we have reached agreement on debates and look forward to getting started as soon as possible. While I would be happy to debate more frequently, the reality is that we have nine weeks left in this election, and both Ed and I have to spend time in Washington trying to fix the budget mess. So I think this debate schedule makes sense given the tight timeframe of the election.