5:10 p.m., Sept. 21, 2010----U.S. Senate candidates from Delaware Christine O'Donnell (R) and Chris Coons (D) will face off in a 90-minute pre-election debate at the University of Delaware on Wednesday, Oct.13.

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The candidates have confirmed their participation in the debate, which is co-produced by the University and Delaware First Media (DFM). The U.S. Senate debate will be co-moderated by longtime Delaware news anchor Nancy Karibjanian of Delaware First Media and national CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer. It will be televised by CNN. The announcement is being made jointly by DFM, the University and CNN.

Micheline Boudreau, president of Delaware First Media, said, “The Delaware Senate race has become a national phenomenon since last week's Republican primary election, when O'Donnell defeated longtime Delaware Congressman and former Gov. Mike Castle.” She added, “We're delighted that CNN proposed to carry our debate nationally.” The Senate seat was once held by Vice President Joe Biden, a UD alumnus. It is being vacated by Sen. Ted Kaufman, who was appointed when Biden moved to the White House. Kaufman declined to run for election.

Delaware's U.S. Senate race was thrust into national headlines by O'Donnell's upset victory, with national Tea Party Express backing. The race now reflects a national anti-incumbent mood. Most political analysts, including those in both political parties, had expected Castle to win both the Republican nomination and the general election in November.

Coons and O'Donnell have agreed to rules of the debate, which include questioning by Karibjanian and Blitzer, as well as by University of Delaware students. Information on the Delaware Debates 2010 is available at www.udel.edu/debates.

Ralph Begleiter, director of UD's Center for Political Communication, announced that televised debate coverage will be jointly produced by DFM and the University, and will be made available at no cost to all news media, including CNN affiliates in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey, and to public television station WHYY-TV 12, licensed to Wilmington, Del.; those stations cover audiences in northern Delaware.

WBOC-TV and WMDT-TV in Salisbury, Md., (both CNN affiliates) will have the opportunity to carry the debates live to the citizens of southern Delaware. Live audio coverage will also be available to radio outlets throughout the region and nationally. Begleiter noted that individual station managements will make their own decisions about whether -- and when -- to broadcast coverage of the debate.

The televised debate will also be streamed live on the Internet, on CNN.com, the DFM and University of Delaware websites and will be available to all other web news media. Begleiter noted that CNN currently plans to air the “live” debate on its domestic cable TV channel for about 30 minutes, beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m., and that CNN has committed to broadcast the entire debate in a later time slot.

Begleiter also announced that Wolf Blitzer plans to anchor his nightly “Situation Room” broadcast live from the University of Delaware campus prior to the debate.

The University of Delaware and Delaware First Media are also hosting a debate for candidates for U.S. House of Representatives, on Wednesday, Oct. 6, also beginning at 7:30 p.m. The candidates for that debate, Democrat John Carney and Republican Glen Urquhart, have also confirmed their participation. Televised coverage of the Oct. 6 debate will also be available to all media, provided by DFM and the University. Both debates are supported, in part, by AARP of Delaware.

The Delaware Debates are the first ever hosted under the auspices of the University of Delaware. They are among several new initiatives of the Center for Political Communication, which consolidates research on emerging political communication technologies. The center also conducts public opinion polling and has hosted a series of “National Agenda” speaker events on the University's Newark campus.

The University of Delaware was dubbed “the epicenter of politics” by Bloomberg News in 2008 because Vice President Joe Biden and the top strategists for the 2008 campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain were students at UD. Newly-elected New Jersey governor Chris Christie is also a UD alumnus. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe and McCain strategist Steve Schmidt have joined forces to support the new UD center and to encourage student engagement. UD's Center for Political Communication was launched in November 2009.

For inquiries from the media only, contact: Meredith Chapman, UD Media Relations, 302.690.1316, mchapman@udel.edu