ST. PAUL — A debate doubleheader is on tap in Minnesota.

Rivals for the state’s U.S. Senate seat and governor’s mansion are finally in the same rooms Wednesday for debates in their respective races. Two Senate hopefuls face off in Duluth early in the day, while a trio of governor candidates meets in Rochester in the evening.

With fewer debates than in past years for both races, each has high stakes.

 

Senate showdown

Democratic Sen. Al Franken and Republican challenger Mike McFadden haven’t had a one-on-one matchup yet.

They were on a crowded stage in August at an agriculturally focused forum, but that was before McFadden nailed down his party’s nomination.

Independent polling shows Franken out front, giving him incentive to play it safe over the final month of the campaign.

McFadden, an investment banker in his first run for office, has been itching to debate the incumbent, saying voters will see a stark contrast between the two.

“There’s not a lot of gray. It’s black and white,” he said this week.

If their debate is anything like their sparring in TV ads, watch for it to be a battle of records: McFadden’s business record and Franken’s voting record.

McFadden has tried to tie Franken to Barack Obama, a president with declining popularity, by noting their similar policy stances. Franken’s team has attempted to turn McFadden’s business background against him, highlighting his involvement in a merger that sent an American company’s headquarters overseas.

Given the debate’s setting, expect questions on mining exploration proposals and their effect on the environment to be prominent.

People who don’t want to make the drive to the North Shore can catch the debate at duluthnewstribune.com or theuptake.org.

Franken and McFadden also are scheduled for debates on Oct. 26 and Nov. 2.

 

Governor debate

Democrat Mark Dayton debated his major-party rivals 26 times on his way to a 2010 governor’s race win and applauded the frequent gatherings a “great antidote for 30-second commercials and seven-second sound bites.”

This year, he’s participating in five.

Republican nominee Jeff Johnson, trailing in the polls, gets roughly one chance a week from now to Election Day to confront Dayton face-to-face. And for the first debate at least, they’ll be joined by the Independence Party’s Hannah Nicollet.

Don’t expect Dayton to hang back even though he’s ahead in the race. While he isn’t the most eloquent debater around, he’s gained a reputation as being feisty in forums during his five prior campaigns for statewide office.

Johnson has been trying to cast Dayton as incompetent and arguing his policies have been misguided. The Hennepin County commissioner is campaigning as a more hands-on leader. Dayton is banking on gains in the state economy and a focus on middle-class concerns to carry him to re-election.

The hour-long Rochester debate will “focus on issues important to Greater Minnesota,” according to organizers. That means talk about broadband, economic development and agriculture. Voters can see it live on Minnesota Public Television stations and C-SPAN.

Dayton and Johnson meet again in Moorhead on Oct. 7.