These are the rules for the Hawley-Kunce debate on FOX 2

ST. LOUIS - Missouri U.S. Senate candidates Josh Hawley and Lucas Kunce are set for a live debate Thursday evening from KTVI-TV FOX 2/KPLR-TV studios in St. Louis.

The debate is scheduled for Halloween night: Thursday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. CT.

KTVI-TV FOX 2/KPLR-TV will broadcast the debate live, along with Nexstar affiliates in Kansas City (WDAF-TV), Springfield (KRBK) and Joplin (KSNF-TV), and our broadcast partners with the News-Press Gazette in Columbia and St. Joseph. Viewers are encouraged to check their local listings for exact broadcast times and channels in their area.

What are the rules for the upcoming debate? Here's a closer look.

Debate Stage

• Candidates will be positioned on stage so that, as seen by a television audience, Lucas Kunce (Democrat) appears on the viewer's left side and Josh Hawley (Republican) appears on the viewer's right side.
• The candidates will not be allowed to use phones, notes, papers, campaign materials or props while on the debate stage.
• The candidates will be provided a blank notebook, pen, and water at their podium.

Debate Format

The debate will not feature an opening statement from either candidate and begin with a question from debate moderators.

The first question will go to the candidate who is leading in the ballot test question in the most recent Nexstar/Emerson College poll. (Hawley had a lead over Kunce in the latest poll results.)

The process behind a debate question will include:

• A moderator will ask and direct a question to Candidate A.
• Candidate A will have 90 seconds to answer the question.
• Candidate A may be asked a follow-up question or rebuttal, to which there will be 30 seconds to respond.
• After that, a moderator will ask and direct a question to Candidate B.
• Candidate B will have 90 seconds to answer the question.
• Candidate B may be asked a follow-up question or rebuttal, to which there will be 30 seconds to respond.

A bell will sound as soon as time is up to answer to a question, a follow-up question or a rebuttal. Candidates will be allowed to finish a thought they had already started if the bell sounds in the middle of a sentence.

This overall sequence will be repeated until it's time for closing statements in the debate.

• Each candidate will be allowed 60 seconds to make a closing statement.
• The candidate who is leading in the ballot test question in the most recent Nexstar/Emerson College poll will be the first to deliver a closing statement. (Kunce was trailing Hawley in the latest poll results).

At the discretion of Nexstar, a commercial break may be added inside the program. Nexstar will
notify the campaigns in a timely fashion of the expected length and location of the break within
the program.

The live debate special is expected to last approximately one hour.