LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - The Latest on the second TV debate in the Louisiana governor’s race (all times local):
8 p.m.
Gov. John Bel Edwards and his Republican challengers drew starkly different pictures of Louisiana’s economic and fiscal health in their second TV debate together.
The Deep South’s only Democratic governor described a Louisiana rebounding from an economic recession and a decade of budget crises. He talked of fewer people uninsured and new state investments in education.
His GOP competitors U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham and businessman Eddie Rispone depicted a state lagging the South and chasing away its residents with high taxes and anti-business policies.
Voters start casting their ballots for the Oct. 12 election in the weeklong early voting period that begins Saturday.
Thursday’s TV debate was broadcast from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus, in an auditorium filled with hundreds of the candidates’ supporters.
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10 a.m.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and his two main Republican challengers are set to spar in their second statewide TV debate, two days from the start of early voting.
The Deep South’s only Democratic governor will square off with U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham and businessman Eddie Rispone on Thursday night in Lafayette.
The election is Oct. 12. The weeklong early voting period begins Saturday.
Polls show Edwards well ahead of his competitors, with Abraham and Rispone trying to keep him from outright victory in the primary. If Edwards doesn’t top 50% of the vote, he’ll face the second-place finisher in a Nov. 16 runoff, a two-man competition that could change the race’s dynamics.
Thursday’s TV debate is being hosted by Louisiana Public Broadcasting and the Council for A Better Louisiana.
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