WPBF 25 AND THE PRESS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCE PANELISTS IN "THE RACE FOR GOVERNOR" DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY TELEVISED DEBATE

West Palm Beach, FL. July 19, 2018 -- The Florida Press Association and WPBF 25 News will present “The Race for Governor” -- The Democratic Primary Debate, live on Thursday, August 2nd from 7-8 p.m.

WPBF 25, the -owned ABC affiliate in West Palm Beach, is the producing and will originate the one-hour debate from the WPBF 25 News studios for statewide broadcast. The debate will air in all 10 major Florida markets through a consortium of participating broadcast partners.

Moderating the debate will be veteran WPBF 25 News anchor and multi-Emmy Award winner Todd McDermott. McDermott previously did national correspondent work for CBS in New York, as well as anchored at the CBS flagship station there. Prior to that, he anchored and reported at stations in Washington D.C., Baltimore and Wichita. McDermott also moderated the 2016 U.S. Senate Debate that was broadcast statewide, on C-Span and NPR.

George Bennett, reporter, The Palm Beach Post, and Nancy Ancrum, Editorial Page Editor, the Herald, will serve as media panelists. Bennett has been a reporter at Post since 1992 and has covered politics from city commission races to presidential campaigns. He has crisscrossed Florida to report on every governor’s race in this century and has appeared on CNN, Fox News and other outlets. Ancrum is a New Yorker who has finally come around. She began her career at the now-closed Baltimore Evening Sun and joined the The Miami Herald in 1983. Before becoming a member of the Editorial Board in 1990, she worked as an assistant city editor in the newsroom.

All five Democratic Party candidates for Governor – Andrew Gillum, Gwen Graham, Jeff Greene, Chris King and Philip Levine – have indicated their intent to participate in the Aug. 2nd debate.

Members of the media who plan to cover the debate and ask questions of the candidates after the debate can apply for credentials at www.debateflorida.com.

The “Race for the Governor Democratic Debate 2018” broadcast is the exclusive copyright of WPBF 25 and the Florida Press Association and cannot be re-purposed on any platforms including digital, Facebook, twitter and multicast channels except for the following television stations.

Participating stations include:

Miami-Ft. Lauderdale WTVJ-NBC6 West Palm Beach WPBF (ABC) Orlando WESH (NBC) Jacksonville First Coast News WJXX (ABC) Gainesville WCJB (ABC) Tampa/St. Pete WFLA (NBC) Tallahassee WCTV (CBS) Pensacola WEAR (ABC) Panama City WMBB (ABC) Fort Myers WZVN (ABC)

All audio and video of the Debate are embargoed until the conclusion of the Debate at 8 PM EST. Media outlets may excerpt up to 2:00 minutes of material from the “Race for Governor Democratic Debate 2018” for their regularly scheduled news programs with a mandatory screen credit “WPBF” appearing for the duration of the excerpts.

The Florida Justice Association is a sponsor of the debate. FJA is dedicated to strengthening and upholding Florida's civil justice system and protecting the rights of Florida's citizens and consumers. Visit www.floridajusticeassociation.org for more information.

About The Florida Press Association The Florida Press Association is a nonprofit organization with a purpose to protect the freedoms and advance the professional standards of the press in Florida, with a membership of Florida’s daily and weekly newspapers and online local media. Visit www.flpress.com to learn more.

About WPBF 25 WPBF 25 is the ABC affiliate serving the West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce Designated Market Area as defined by the Nielsen Company. WPBF 25 is owned and operated by Hearst Television. WPBF 25 can be viewed locally on Comcast channel 10 or 431(HD), Dish Network/Direct TV/AT&T U-verse on channel 25 and over the air on digital channel 25-1. WPBF 25 also operates WPBF.COM, The Justice Network, and Estrella TV West Palm Beach, South Florida’s premier Spanish-language entertainment channel.

About Hearst Television Hearst Television owns and operates television and radio stations serving 26 media markets across 39 states reaching over 21 million U.S. television households. Through its partnership with nearly all of the major networks, Hearst Television distributes national content over nearly 70 video channels including programming from ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, MY Net, MeTV, This TV, Estrella and more. The radio stations are leaders in Baltimore news/talk and rock music listenership. Hearst Television is recognized as one of the industry's premier companies, and has been honored with numerous awards for distinguished journalism, industry innovation, and community service. Hearst Television is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst. The Company's Web address is www.hearsttelevision.com.