Tuesday night for their third official debate. Polls give Democrat Jay Inslee a slight lead over Republican Rob McKenna.
It’s been more than a month since McKenna and Inslee formally debated -– the last time in Vancouver. Until late July, McKenna led virtually every poll. But since then, Inslee has averaged a 3 percent lead.
“It’s not so much maybe that McKenna’s dropped, it’s that Inslee’s coming up,” says Todd Donovan, a political scientist at Western Washington University.
He says it’s not too late for McKenna to reclaim the lead, but probably not in one debate.
“I don’t know what you would tell a candidate ‘hey you’re falling behind in the polls, here’s a way to really come back in a debate.’ It’s more you don’t want to screw up, you don’t want to have some sort of gaffe or mistake that’s going to be repeated in the news cycle.”
The candidates will face-off at the Yakima Convention Center. The debate is sponsored by the Yakima Herald, the Hispanic Chambers of Commerce and PBS affiliate KCTS-TV.
On the Web:
Video: Debate in Vancouver (Aug. 29)
Copyright 2012 Northwest News Network
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