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AP Photo Commission names moderators for presidential debates

NBC's Lester Holt, ABC's Martha Raddatz, CNN's Anderson Cooper, Fox News' Chris Wallace and CBS' Elaine Quijano will moderate presidential and vice presidential debates this fall, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced on Friday.

Holt, anchor of NBC's "Nightly News,” will moderate the first debate at Hofstra University in New York on Sept. 26, which will be a traditional debate divided into six segments of 15 minutes each on major topics to be determined by Holt.

Quijano, an anchor on CBS' live streaming service CBSN, will moderate the vice presidential debate on Oct. 4 at Longwood University in Virginia, which will be a traditional debate as well — divided into nine timed segments of 10 minutes each.

Raddatz, ABC's Chief Global Correspondent and co-anchor of "This Week,” along with CNN anchor Cooper, will moderate a town-meeting style debate on Oct. 9 at Washington University in St. Louis. There, the questions will be posed directly by citizen participants made up of uncommitted voters based on topics "of broad public interest as reflected in social media and other sources."

Wallace, host of "Fox News Sunday,” will become the first Fox News host to moderate a general election debate since the network's founding. He will host the final presidential debate on Oct. 19 at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The format of the final debate will be the same as the first.

Steve Scully, political editor of C-SPAN, will serve as backup moderator for all the debates.

"The CPD has a simple mission, to ensure that presidential debates help the public learn about the positions of the leading candidate for president and vice-president," CPD co-chairs Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. and Michael D. McCurry said. "These format will allow an in-depth exploration of the major topics in this year's election."

Update, 3:55 p.m.:

In a memo to staff obtained by POLITICO, acting Fox News CEO and head of 21st Century Fox Rupert Murdoch congratulated Wallace on becoming the first Fox News anchor to moderate a general election debate.

"Chris Wallace, who helped start the national conversation on the presidential race in August of 2015 by co-anchoring the very first primary debate to a record 24 million viewers, will now bring that conversation to a close by anchoring the last general election debate of the cycle," Murdoch wrote. "Chris is widely recognized as a skilled and knowledgeable questioner who grills newsmakers of both parties with equal vigor and fairness. Today’s decision by the Commission on Presidential Debates is not only a tribute to Chris, but also a point of pride for all of us at Fox News."

Quijano is also the first Filipino-American and one of the youngest debate moderators.

"Elaine connects today’s digital audiences with this historic 2016 campaign,” CBS News President David Rhodes said in a statement. “Her perspective, dedication to political reporting, and important role on CBS News’s live-streaming platform make her an ideal choice to lead the only vice presidential debate this fall.”

But not everyone is happy with the moderator selections. Randy Falco, the CEO of Univison, wrote a letter to the commission expressing his "disappointment" and "disbelief" that no Hispanic moderator had been chosen.

"The inclusion of CBS' Elaine Quijano as a moderator for the Vice Presidential debate is certainly a welcome addition but seems insufficient when taking into account past presidential cycles, future demographic trends and the important role Latinos play in the economic and social fabric of this great nation. Simply put: it’s an abdication of your responsibility to represent and reflect one of the largest and most influential communities in the U.S.," Falco wrote.

