AFP/Getty Presidential debate schedule set for next year

Next year's general-election presidential debates will be in Ohio, Missouri, Nevada and Virginia, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Wednesday.

The first general-election debate will be held Sept. 26, 2016, at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Washington University in St. Louis will host the second general-election debate on Oct. 9, 2016. It will mark the fourth time a presidential debate has been held at the Missouri university, more than any other site. Candidates previously sparred in St. Louis in 1992, 2000 and 2004, and it was also the site of 2008's vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.


The final presidential debate will be hosted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on Oct. 19, 2016, with Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, as the backup site.

Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, will host the VP debate on Oct. 4, 2016.

"We appreciate the many applications we received and are delighted with the sites we have selected. We look forward to working with these fine universities and their students and communities to bring these important civic events to the nation," commission co-chairs Frank Fahrenkopf and Mike McCurry said in a statement.

The commission announced in April that it had received applications from 16 different cities and institutions of higher learning.