Missouri Candidates Meet Face-to-Face This Week

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Candidates for Missouri Governor and U.S. Senate will meet face-to-face Friday for the first time.

The annual meeting of the Missouri Press Association will feature a series of forums. One will include Governor Jay Nixon, his Republican opponent Dave Spence and Libertarian Jim Higgins.

The other forum will include Senator Claire McCaskill, Republican challenger Todd Akin and Libertarian Jonathan Dine.

The meetings will be held at the HolidayInnExecutiveCenter in Columbia.

Last week, Sen. McCaskill called for at least three televised debates with her challengers. She said they should be held on television stations in Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield.

She said her campaign had sent messages to that effect to the Akin campaign. McCaskill told reporters her campaign staff had not heard from the Akin campaign.