Inside peek at preps for Friday’s U.S. Senate debate

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WSAW) - All the polls show Senator Ron Johnson and Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes are in a practical dead heat. The first of two debates between the U.S. Senate candidates could help to separate themselves for undecided voters.

NewsChannel 7′s Dale Ryman and Emily Davies and are in Milwaukee as part of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association debate panel.

Debates have a long tradition in elections to help voters make informed decisions. Veteran debate moderator and Wisconsin broadcast hall of famer Jill Geisler will be holding candidates accountable to answer the direct questions they’re asked in this debate.

“We try as a team of journalists to look for fair, researched, helpful questions that will enable people to see differences between the candidates and have them choose if they haven’t already made that choice,” said Geisler. “And by taking part I give credit to these candidates because they’re saying, ask me anything.”

New this year, the WBA has added a data team. Three journalists will be providing live added context to the various issues if you want to learn more.

“That team is going to be pumping out really helpful information to people,” Geisler added. “Because we know it’s hard to cover as many topics as we’d like to do on behalf of voters in an hours time. And they want to read more about things.”

Ryman will be a part of the question panel. Davies is part of the data team. The U.S. Senate debate will take place Friday from Milwaukee PBS at 7:00. You can watch the debate live on FOX WZAW.

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