NBC-affiliates across Ohio are partnering to present a statewide debate centered on Issue 2, a controversial state referendum up for repeal. The debate will be moderated by NBC News political director Chuck Todd and broadcast from Columbus on Tuesday, October 25th.
The debate will be carried by WLWT Cincinnati, WKYC Cleveland, WCMH Columbus, WDTN Dayton, WLIO Lima, WNWO Toledo, WTOV Wheeling-Steubenville, WFMJ Youngstown, and WHIZ Zanesville. It will also be streamed live on each of the stations’ websites.
Joining Todd as panelists for the debate will be WCMH anchor Colleen Marshall, WKYC senior political reporter Tom Beres, and WLWT anchor-reporter Sheree Paolello.
Debating Issue 2 will be State Senator Keith Faber of Building a Better Ohio, who will be defending Issue 2, and former Ohio U.S. Representative Dennis Eckart of We Are Ohio, a group that has aggressively campaigned to repeal the referendum. Issue 2 is part of Senate Bill 5, a collective bargaining measure that was passed earlier this year by the Ohio House.
“Issue 2, like Senate Bill 5 before it, has evoked intense public scrutiny from both sides over the past year,” said Dan Bradley, general manager of WCMH and spokesman for the Ohio NBC stations. “This debate reaffirms the NBC stations’ commitment to quality and comprehensive coverage of the issues that matter most to Ohioans. Our goal with this debate is to educate our communities and clarify the myriad of details of this contentious issue.”