Candy Crowley Named First Woman to Moderate Presidential Debate in 20 Years

Jim Lehrer and Bob Schieffer will also moderate debates

Candy Crowley will be the first woman to moderate a presidential debate in two decades when she handles one of three debates between President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, while Jim Lehrer and Bob Schieffer will moderate the other two.

All three were named as moderators Monday by the Commission on Presidential Debates. Martha Raddatz, ABC News' senior foreign affairs correspondent, will moderate the debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Romney's newly minted running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan.

Getty ImagesCrowley's selection comes after pressure from former ABC News weekend Carole Simpson — the last woman to moderate a presidential debate, in 1992 — and a petition started by three teenage girls in New Jersey. They gathered 170,000 email signatures calling for a woman moderator.

Crowley, CNN's chief political correspondent, will moderate the second matchup on Oct. 16 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. That debate will be a town hall meeting style event.

Lehrer, executive editor of PBS NewsHour, will oversee the first debate, which will take place at the University of Denver on Oct. 3.

Schieffer, CBS News' chief Washington correspondent and the moderator of "Face the Nation," will run herd at the third debate on Oct. 22 at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla.

The vice presidential debate will be held on Oct. 11 at Centre College in Danville, Ky.
Monday, October 22, Lynn University, Boca Raton, Fla.

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