IRVING, TX – Nexstar Media Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXST), announced today that it will host two multi-market live telecasts of debates between the major party candidates running for Governor of Illinois, Democrat J. B. Pritzker and Republican Darren Bailey. The first debate, “YOUR LOCAL ELECTION HEADQUARTERS: ILLINOIS GOVERNOR’S DEBATE,” will take place on Thursday, October 6, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. CT, at the Illinois State University campus in Normal, IL. The second debate will originate from the studios of WGN-TV in Chicago, and will take place on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. CT. Both debates will be broadcast across the entire state of Illinois.
Produced by WMBD-TV in Peoria and WGN-TV in Chicago, the hour-long debates will be available via broadcast or digital live stream in every county of the state, potentially bringing together more than six million viewers across Illinois. The debate will air on local Nexstar television stations in eight markets serving Illinois, including WGN-TV in Chicago, WHBF-TV in Moline, WQRF-TV in Rockford, WMBD-TV in Peoria, WCIA-TV in Champaign, KPLR-TV in St. Louis (MO), WTWO-TV in Terre Haute (IN), and WEHT-TV in Evansville (IN). Nexstar is partnering with Gray Television’s WGEM-TV in Quincy and Allen Media’s WSIL-TV in Carterville to make the debate available in all Illinois television markets. In addition, radio stations throughout the state will be provided free access to the debate. WGLT (89.1 FM) in Normal and WCBU (89.9 FM) in Peoria intend to carry the debates in their respective markets. WGN Radio (720 AM) in Chicago will carry the second debate on October 18.
The first debate on October 6 from Illinois State University will be moderated by WGN-TV News anchor Tahman Bradley and WCIA-TV News anchor Jennifer Roscoe. The second debate on October 18 from WGN-TV will be moderated by WGN-TV News anchors Micah Materre and Tahman Bradley. The moderators will pose questions to each candidate, including several submitted from voters in advance, focused on topics important to viewers at home.
The election for Illinois Governor will take place on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Voters must register to vote by Tuesday, October 11, by mail and Sunday, October 23, online. To register to vote, please visit: https://ova.elections.il.gov . For more information regarding the upcoming elections, including early voting dates, polling locations and voter identification requirements please visit: https://www.elections.il.gov/.
