The two candidates for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts will meet for a second debate Thursday at 7 p.m. in Springfield, hosted by New England Public Media and GBH News.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and attorney John Deaton, the Republican nominee, sparred during the campaign's first debate on Tuesday, hosted by CBS News Boston.
Current polls have Warren with a comfortable lead over Deaton. A UMass Amherst/WCVB poll released this week showed the Democrat ahead by 22 percentage points.
Thursday night's debate will air on 88.5 NEPM, NEPM TV and stream at NEPM.org. It will be moderated by NEPM's Adam Frenier, and GBH News reporters Saraya Wintersmith and Adam Reilly.
The debate will be rebroadcast over the weekend.
Candidates buying TV ads
Right after the CBS News Boston debate on Tuesday, Deaton released his first television ad of the campaign.
Sitting in front of a boarded-up home and walking along a residential street in Roxbury, where he lived for a year during law school, Deaton looks into the camera and talks about overcoming childhood poverty and his military career. He also compares himself to former Gov. Charlie Baker as viewers see a photo of the two Republicans together.
"I'm running for Senate because I've walked in your shoes. I understand your struggles, and I will fight for a better future for you and your families," Deaton says in his ad. "Just like Charlie Baker, I'm pro-choice and bipartisan. I will secure the border and reduce inflation. Elizabeth Warren points fingers, I get things done."
Warren released her own new ad Tuesday morning, but it didn't even mention Deaton or the fact that the two-term Democrat is on the ballot herself this November. Warren's campaign said the ad was the senator's way of "making clear that Democratic leadership delivered on lowering health care costs and combating climate change, while Republican control of Congress would mean more chaos and inaction."
This post contains reporting from the State House News Service and NEPM.
