Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe and his Democratic challenger, Andrew Rice, were set to meet Tuesday evening for their first — and possibly only — debate less than a month before the general election.
The 45-minute debate is scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m. and will be aired by KJRH Channel 2. It will mark the first meeting between the candidates.
Before Tuesday, Rice and Inhofe had largely traded barbs in television ads.
Rice says Inhofe has been in Washington too long and has a record of blocking legislation that would promote alternative energy sources to ease dependence on foreign oil.
Inhofe says Rice is too liberal for Oklahoma voters and has billed himself as a stubborn advocate for the state's interests.
Last week, Rice accused Inhofe of shunning debates while running a "negative stream of advertising" on television in an attempt to distort his record as a state senator.
"I just feel Sen. Inhofe is hiding behind these ads, he's not campaigning, he won't come debate me, he's hiding there in Washington," Rice said.
But Josh Kivett, Inhofe's campaign manager, said the facts in the ad about Rice's record are "indisputable."
"The only distortion in this campaign would be if Rice tried to claim he shared most Oklahomans' values," he said.
According to recent public opinion polls, Rice is trailing Inhofe by 16 to 22 percentage points. He also is being outspent more than 2-1.
Besides Tuesday's debate, the candidates are scheduled to appear in Tulsa on Oct. 14 before The State Chamber.
But they will not debate — each will address the crowd separately. Independent Stephen P. Wallace also has been invited to make a presentation.
At one point, the business group closed that meeting to the press at the request of the Inhofe campaign, but officials backed off that plan after media complaints.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
