The second debate among Republican candidates for governor will take place Wednesday night in downtown Birmingham at the historic Lyric Theater.
Gov. Kay Ivey, who is seeking to be elected governor for the first time, will not attend. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, evangelist Scott Dawson and state Sen. Bill Hightower are Ivey's three opponents in the June 5 primary and have confirmed they will participate.
The debate will be televised by Birmingham television station ABC 33/40 and Huntsville's WHNT, and also streamed live on Reckon's Facebook page and on AL.com.
"We believe as Alabama's statewide news organization it is our job to bring the candidates for governor before the people of this state so voters can hear from the candidates themselves," said Izzy Gould, director of content for AL.com. "We're thankful for the candidates who chose to stand in front of a live audience and answer questions pertinent to this election."
According to the schedule released by her office on Monday, Ivey will instead be in the Mobile area attending a meeting of the Alabama Gulf Coast Recovery Council in Spanish Fort, followed by a meeting of the National Resource Damage Assessment program capped by a Recovery Council dinner.
Ivey's campaign notified AL.com on Monday that the governor will not attend. An open lectern will be placed on the stage at the Lyric in the event Ivey attends.
Reckon by AL.com has been in constant contact with the Ivey campaign for several weeks, asking with her campaign to find a suitable date for her to attend the GOP debate. Ivey's campaign said it would provide alternate dates for a debate that would better suit her schedule but no suggested dates were ever submitted.
According to the governor's schedule, she has no night events this week with the exception of Wednesday and Friday.
Ivey also declined to attend a GOP gubernatorial candidate debate last week that was hosted by Birmingham television station WVTM Channel 13. Instead, Ivey was less than five miles throwing out the first pitch at the Birmingham Barons baseball game.
Her public schedule was open every night last week with the exception of the baseball game on the night of the debate.
Battle, Dawson and Hightower also participated in that debate - criticizing the governor for not attending while responding to an array of questions on various issues facing the state.
The next day, while attending a groundbreaking in Huntsville, Ivey dismissed the criticism as a "stunt" for her opponents to get "media attention."
The debate hosted by Reckon by AL.com - the state's largest news organization - will take place from 7-9 p.m. Each candidate will have a lectern and a stool and field questions from three panelists. The panelists will be ABC 33/40's Lauren Walsh, AL.com contributor Cameron Smith of the R Street Institute and Reckon's John Archibald, who on Monday was named the 2018 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.
AL.com columnist Roy S. Johnson will be the debate's moderator.
Questions will be both general in nature for all the candidates to respond as well as more focused questions directed to specific candidates.
The public is welcome to attend the debate and there is no admission charge. Free tickets are available from Eventbrite.com.
Reckon by AL.com will also be hosted a debate for Democratic gubernatorial candidates at the Lyric on April 24.