The televised general election debates are an important part of our democratic process. Since 1988, the Commission on Presidential Debates has conducted 30 general election presidential and vice presidential debates. Our record is one of fairness, balance and non-partisanship. As announced on October 11, 2019, CPD has selected four distinguished universities to host the 2020 presidential and vice presidential debates, and those universities are already hard at work on these important civic education forums. The sites and dates are:
First presidential debate:
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN
Vice presidential debate:
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Second presidential debate:
Thursday, October 15, 2020
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Third presidential debate:
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Belmont University, Nashville, TN
The CPD will announce additional details about the 2020 general election debates, including format and moderators, in 2020. All debates will start at 9:00 PM ET and will run for 90 minutes without commercial interruption. The CPD looks forward to the participation of all candidates who satisfy the CPD’s Nonpartisan Candidate Selection Criteria, which also were announced on October 11, 2019.