FOX is hosting the event from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Network anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will ask both candidates questions on key issues submitted by a bipartisan live audience. Ryan and Vance will appear separately and Ryan’s campaign said he will appear first.
The town hall will take place at The Fives rooftop event venue in Columbus.
“Ohio is an important state to visit in both the midterms and in presidential election years as oftentimes it is a bellwether,” said Baier, the network’s chief political anchor and host of Special Report With Bret Baier. “This particular race is close and the balance of power in Washington could come down to any one of these individual Senate races. We have been working very hard to get both candidates to agree and are happy to go to Columbus next week to try to illuminate important issues in the race. We will have a balanced crowd filled with different ideologies and perspectives and hopefully people with tough but fair questions for both candidates.”
The hour-long event is unrelated to the two formal debates in which the candidates have already participated.
Ryan, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Howland Twp. in Trumbull County, and Vance, a Republican businessman of Cincinnati, are competing in the Nov. 8 midterm election for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, who is not seeking reelection.
The outcome will help determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate, now split 50-50 and controlled by Democrats.
