The campaign team of Rick Scott, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, said on Wednesday that its candidate had accepted two debates with state CFO Alex Sink, the Democratic nominee in the race. The first debate will be held by Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association at Nova Southeastern University in Davie on Wednesday, Oct. 20. The second debate, sponsored by the St. Petersburg Times, will be held at the University of South Florida at Tampa and will be hosted by CNN’s John King. Both debates will be broadcast across the state.

“Rick looks forward to debating the issues important to Floridians,” said Jen Baker, a spokeswoman for Scott. “People deserve to know that there is a clear choice between an outsider and successful businessman with a proven track record of creating jobs, balancing budgets, and a Tallahassee insider and Obama liberal who supports job-killing policies and as chief financial officer has presided over historic job loss, increased insurance premiums and mismanaged pension trusts.”