Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence will hold a rally Tuesday afternoon in Chesterfield, as part of the GOP ticket's first Missouri campaign swing.
Pence is also scheduled to hold a town hall meeting Tuesday morning in Springfield, Mo.
The Chesterfield event will be held 1:30 p.m. at the Doubletree hotel. Admission is free to the public, but tickets are required. They can be obtained on the GOP presidential ticket’s website.
Pence's stop is the first in the area since Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump campaigned in St. Louis in March, just before the state's presidential primary.
State GOP party chairman John Hancock, who knows Pence well, calls him “one of the very finest people I have ever known in politics. I’m delighted that he’s coming to Missouri next week.”
Pence’s visit also signals that Republicans are not taking Missouri for granted, even though it’s been 20 years since a Democratic presidential candidate carried the state.
Although polls have consistently shown Trump with a small lead in Missouri over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Hancock acknowledged that both parties likely have the state “on the ‘watch list.’ "
Political experts have said that Trump must carry Missouri to win in November. Clinton does not need the state to win the White House.
Debate moderators announced
Meanwhile, the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has announced its slate of moderators for the four planned debates: three featuring Clinton and Trump, and one for vice-presidential nominees Pence and Tim Kaine.
The Oct. 9 presidential debate at Washington University will be moderated by ABC’s Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper of CNN. It will be a town-hall format, same as the 2004 presidential debate that the university hosted between then-President George W. Bush and Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.
Here’s the commission’s list of moderators and debate sites, released Friday:
First presidential debate:
Lester Holt, Anchor, NBC Nightly News
Monday, September 26, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
Vice presidential debate:
Elaine Quijano, Anchor, CBSN and Correspondent, CBS News
Tuesday, October 4, Longwood University, Farmville, VA
Second presidential debate (town meeting):
Martha Raddatz, Chief Global Affairs Correspondent and Co-Anchor of "This Week," ABC
Anderson Cooper, Anchor, CNN
Sunday, October 9, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Third presidential debate:
Chris Wallace, Anchor, Fox News Sunday
Wednesday, October 19, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
