Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds will debate Republican challenger Bob McDonnell this election season. But it’s unclear whether the candidates will square off the 10 times that McDonnell has proposed.

“The Deeds campaign will work with community and news organizations and the McDonnell campaign to schedule a series of debates, so that all Virginians have the opportunity to hear the stark differences between the two candidates,“ read a statement released by the Deeds camp late this afternoon.

“We expect the number of debates to be in line with precedent from the 2005 Kaine-Kilgore and Deeds-McDonnell debate schedules.“

In 2005, the candidates for governor and attorney general debated three times leading up to the November election. In 2009, McDonnell is asking for 10 debates, including a series of three debates in less than a week: Oct. 6 in Arlington, Oct. 9 in Roanoke and Oct. 12 in Richmond.

“Creigh is eager to go out and debate Bob McDonnell, but we’re going to do it on independent terms, not Bob McDonnell’s terms,“ said Deeds press secretary Jared Leopold.

Interesting to note that back in the 2005 primary fight for the GOP attorney general nomination, Richmond attorney Steve Baril challenged McDonnell to a series of seven political debates across the Commonwealth in advance of the June 14 GOP primary.

According to an article in the Augusta Free Press at the time, McDonnell’s campaign accused Baril of “grandstanding.“

“This letter is nothing more than grandstanding by a struggling campaign,“ said McDonnell’s campaign manager, Janet Polarek.

To date, only one gubernatorial debate is confirmed—July 25 at the Homestead Resort on Deeds turf in Bath County.

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