Brown, Mandel face off in third debate

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - The contenders for Ohio’s open Senate seat are facing off now in their third and final debate. Incumbent Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown and Republican challenger Josh Mandel are debating in Cincinnati.

If their first two meetings are any indication, there will be no love lost between the two this time around.

Last week in Columbus, Mandel called Brown a liar, and Brown said Mandel is a man who cannot be trusted.

As before, the two are expected to argue over topics that include social issues, Medicare, trade policy, taxes and government bailouts.

“I'm not a bailout senator,” Mandel said in Columbus on Oct. 18. “He's the bailout senator,” referring to Brown’s support of federal cash spent on Detroit automakers.

Brown supported the $62 million the government sent to General Motors and Chrysler in 2008 and 2009 and has made the bailout a central point of his campaign for re-election.

"These are real jobs and real people," Brown said, defending auto industry rescue, and said it "just boggles my mind" when he considers Mandel’s opposition.

Brown, 59, was elected to the U.S. House in 1992 and is serving his first term in the Senate, having won his seat from Mike DeWine, who now serves as Ohio’s Attorney General. Now Brown is running the race of his political life, with published reports indicating Republican groups have already spent $20 million to unseat him.

Mandel, 35, is a Tea Party favorite who became Ohio’s treasurer in 2010, then immediately announced his plan to take Brown’s place in the Senate. Before that he was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives and a Cleveland-area city councilman.

The debate is sponsored by Ohio’s NBC television stations and AARP .  NBC's Chuck Todd is moderator. 

2 NEWS On Assignment Reporter Pam Elliot will be at the debate and will have complete coverage on 2 NEWS at 10 on Dayton’s CW and 2 NEWS at 11:00.

You can watch it live here on WDTN, and you can also watch the live stream on WDTN.com from your computer, tablet, or mobile phone.

2 NEWS will also be hosting an exclusive InstaPoll for 2 NEWS viewers during the debate. We want to know which candidate, Brown or Mandel, is doing better.