Gov. Pat McCrory and Attorney General Roy Cooper will square off in Research Triangle Park for the North Carolina gubernatorial debate on Tuesday.

This is the first debate between the two candidates and there are not any other debates currently scheduled before Election Day.

The debate will be hosted by UNC-TV and is sponsored by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters, according to WRAL.

The candidates for governor have had much difficulty agreeing to debate times, with the McCrory campaign originally pushing for at least six debates and the Cooper campaign agreeing to only three, according to WRAL.

In addition to the gubernatorial debate, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis and former state Rep. Deborah Ross will meet on the debate stage Thursday. This debate will also be on UNC-TV and is sponsored by the NC Association of Broadcasters.

David McLennan, a political science professor at Meredith College, believes local debates are very important in reaching undecided voters, according to WRAL.

“The real challenge for the debates is to generate a large audience, given that the second presidential debate is Sunday, and many of the state’s voters are not following the governor’s race or the Senate race as closely,” McLennan said to WRAL. “The media coverage of the debates may have as much, if not more, importance than the debates themselves because of voters’ preoccupation with the presidential campaign.”

North Carolina’s role as a battleground state has drawn national attention to the local races. The debate will be moderated by Chuck Todd, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The Senate debate will be hosted by Jonathan Carl, the White House correspondent for ABC News, according to WRAL.

The gubernatorial debate will air at 7 p.m. Tuesday on UNC-TV, WRAL, WRAZ Fox 50, CBS North Carolina WNCN and ABC11 WTVD.

The senate debate will air at 7 p.m. Thursday on UNC-TV, WRAL, WRAZ Fox 50 and ABC11 WTVD.