The first debate between the two major party nominees for Governor will take place on Wednesday night in New London.

If you’ve seen the ads, you know a little bit about what to expect.

Republican Bob Stefanowski is going to try to tie Democrat Ned Lamont to Governor Dannel P. Malloy. Lamont is going to try to tie Stefanowski to President Donald Trump.

Other than that, we’re not really sure.

Part of that is because Stefanowski did not debate much during the Republican primary campaign. He attended 4 debates, but remember there were so many candidates, there was limited opportunity for him to speak.

One of the most aggressive debaters among the republicans was former Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst. Reports are he is doing mock debates with Stefanowski to help his fellow republican prepare for for Wednesday nights debates.

The major topic is certainly going to be Connecticut’s fiscal state.

“We have a budget crisis in this state,” said Lamont. “You want somebody who’s serious about making the changes we need to get this state back on track. So i really hope that what the debate focuses on.”

“You can choose somebody who’s gonna work their tail off to try to get rid of the Income Tax or you can choose Ned Lamont who’s going to raise taxes. He’s already come out and said he’s going to raise taxes,” said Stefanowski.

Repealing the income tax is Stefanowski’s signature theme. You can expect Lamont to go after that concept, saying it won’t work and would require a huge increase in property taxes and or huge cuts in school funding.

You can also expect both candidates to talk about their own business success. Both are wealthy men.

Lamont started his own company, Stefanowski was a top executive in two very large corporations. So they see the business and financial world in two very different ways.

You’re going to here a lot about money because debate producers have decided at least a third of the debate will focus on the state’s budget crisis.

Pre-debate coverage starts at 6:30 p.m. on our Facebook page.

You can also watch the debate on MyTV9 at 7:00 p.m. or on WTNH.com. We will also have post-debate analysis on MyTV9 with our Capitol Report team.

The debate is presented by News 8, The Day and the Garde Arts Theater in New London.