DURHAM — The University of New Hampshire will host a Democratic presidential debate on Thursday, MSNBC announced Sunday.

The debate will air on MSNBC at 9 p.m. Feb. 4, and will be moderated by “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd and MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow. All three presidential candidates — former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley — are expected to attend.

The Democratic National Committee, which has been under pressure from voters and candidates to add more debates to the primary schedule, has said the debate will be sanctioned and is moving toward sanctioning additional debates with the agreement of the candidates, MSNBC said in a statement.

Durham Town Administrator Todd Selig said the debate will likely be in the Johnson Theater at the Paul Creative Arts Center on the UNH campus. However, MSNBC nor UNH has announced the venue.

Selig said the town welcomed the Republican presidential debate eight years ago.

“… In the spirit of openness, transparency, and honest discourse in the political process, we welcome these Democratic candidates to our community and the UNH campus,” Selig said in a statement. “I hope they will take some time to stop in at our local establishments to see and get to know a quintessential New England college town."

New Hampshire will host the first-in-the-nation presidential primary on Tuesday, Feb. 9.

"New Hampshire citizens value the right to vote and robust political debate,” Selig said in a statement. “In that spirit, we welcome the Democratic presidential candidates to Durham and the UNH campus … for an historic national debate which may well have a pivotal role in the outcome of the Democrat presidential primary on February 9th.

"I applaud the Clinton, O’Malley and Sanders campaigns for agreeing to the upcoming event and providing N.H. voters another important opportunity to hear directly from the candidates in the days immediately preceding the N.H. primary,” Selig continued.

According to the Associated Press, the Democratic National Committee says it's reached an agreement in principal to have the party sanction and manage more debates during the primary schedule, including the New Hampshire debate.