U.S. Senate candidates Steve Daines and Amanda Curtis have agreed to a debate in Billings on Oct. 20.

The agreement, struck Friday evening, will be sponsored by the MTN television network, Yellowstone Public Radio, Montana State University Billings and The Billings Gazette. The debate will be broadcast live and live-streamed online.

The debate will take place from 6 to 7 p.m., at MSUB’s Petro Theater.

Admission information will be released later.

The debate will feature a panel of journalists and will be moderated by KTVQ’s Jay Kohn.

Scheduling debates among Montana’s congressional candidates has been contentious this election season.

Only one other debate has been scheduled, an Oct. 4 House debate between Republican Ryan Zinke and Democrat John Lewis in Bozeman and broadcast on MTN stations.

A forum featuring Lewis will be held in Billings on Sept. 29, but Zinke has so far said he will not participate, though he was invited.

The Daines-Curtis debate will be broadcast on radio and television throughout the state, as well as covered by The Gazette.

The MTN stations include KTVQ, KBZK Bozeman, KRTV Great Falls, KPAX Missoula, KXLF Butte, KXLH Helena, and KAJ Kalispell. YPR, based in Billings, has 35 transmitters/translators and serves the Eastern two-thirds of Montana and Northern Wyoming.

Debate coordinators Jon Stepanek of MTN, Jackie Yamanaka of Yellowstone Public Radio and Gazette Editor Darrell Ehrlick came together in an effort to provide comprehensive media coverage for the event.

“While the debate will take place in Montana’s largest city, it will be broadcast and distributed statewide,” the three news organizations said. “It will be a great thing for residents of Montana to be able to see the choices in this very important Senate race. We thank the campaigns for their cooperation.”

Distributed by MCT Information Services