TRENTON -- Democratic nominee Phil Murphy and Republican nominee Kim Guadagno will square off in two televised debates in this year's race to succeed Chris Christie as New Jersey governor -- and NJ Advance Media will co-sponsor one of the events, the state's election watchdog agency announced this week.

One debate will be hosted by William Paterson University in Wayne and the other by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, which organizes the events and picks the hosts and sponsors.

Montclair State University will host a separate debate between Murphy and Guadagno's lieutenant governor candidates.

Neither Murphy, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany, nor Guadagno, the state's lieutenant governor, have picked a running mate yet. They have until July 28 to do so.

Dates and times have not been finalized for any of the debates, but they must be held between Sept. 19 and Oct. 27 -- 11 days before Election Day on Nov. 7.

Co-sponsors of the William Paterson debate are: WCBS TV in New York, WKYW TV in Philadelphia, The Record, and other Gannett New Jersey newspapers.

Co-sponsors of the NJPAC debate are: WABC TV in New York, WPVI TV in Philadelphia, Univision in New York and Philadelphia, NJ Advance Media, NJBIZ, NJ Spotlight, El Diario, Rutgers University, League of Women Voters NJ, Lead NJ, and National Association of Latino Elected Officials.

Co-sponsors of the Montclair State lieutenant governor debate are: NJTV, WNET, and C-SPAN.

A Monmouth University Poll released last week showed Murphy leading Guadagno by 27 percentage points, though more than half of New Jersey voters don't know enough about either candidate to form an opinion.

There are actually seven contenders running to succeed Christie, a term-limited Republican whose second and final term ends in January.

Also running are Libertarian nominee Peter Rohrman, Green Party nominee Seth Kaper-Dale, and three independents: Gina Genovese, Matthew Riccardi, and Vincent Ross.

But candidates must qualify for the state's matching funds program to participate. The program allows gubernatorial candidates who raise more than $430,000 to receive $2 in public money for every $1 they raise.

So far, only Murphy and Guadagno have announced they have reached that threshold.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.