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North Dakota Tea Party is planning two candidate debates in January and February.

The debates are set for Jan. 20 in Bismarck and Feb. 25 in Fargo, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The group has invited all candidates for North Dakota’s Governor, U.S. House and U.S. Senate races to participate.

So far, the only candidates to confirm they will be attending are Republicans. Govornor Jack Dalrymple and Senator Ryan Taylor, two of the big faces in the Governor race, have said they will not be attending the debate, according to a release by the Tea Party.

The debates will be moderated by Dave Thompson from Prairie Public and questions for the candidates can presently be submitted by the public directly to Thompson at dthompson@prairiepublic.org  

As of Dec. 30, the following candidates have accepted/declined the invitation to participate:
U.S. House:
Confirmed: ND Rep. Bette Grande (R)
                     ND Rep. Kim Koppelman (R)
                     PSC Brian Kalk (R)
                     PSC Kevin Cramer (R)
                     Shane Goettle (R)
Not confirmed: Pam Gulleson (D)

U.S. Senate:
Confirmed:        Duane Sand (R)
Not confirmed:  US Congressman Rick Berg (R)
Heidi Heitkamp (D)
Dr. Thomas Potter (D)

Gubernatorial:
Confirmed:         Paul Sorum (R)
Not attending:   Governor Jack Dalrymple (R)
         ND Sen. Ryan Taylor (D)