Independent Sara Cambensy, Democrat Kelli van Ginhoven and Republican David Prestin are featured in a 90-minute televised forum airing Thursday, Oct. 1, at 6:30 p.m. ET on Fox UP and the TV6 Livestream player.

The candidates will discuss Upper Peninsula issues in a race to replace term-limited Republican Sen. Ed McBroom. Republicans have held the seat since 2011. McBroom won reelection in 2022 with more than 62 percent of the vote.

The forum is presented by Media Meet and produced with WNMU Public Media, WLUC-TV and mediaBrew Communications, according to WLUC. WNMU Media Meet producer and host Mike Settles moderated the forum. The questioning panel includes TV6 evening anchor Brady Meyer, WNMU-FM Public Radio 90 News Director Nicole Walton and mediaBrew Communications Network News Director Walt Lindala.

The three-way contest took shape after the Michigan Board of State Canvassers voted Aug. 17 to accept Cambensy's qualifying petitions following a challenge to her candidacy, according to WZMQ. Cambensy, a former Democratic state representative from Marquette who served the 109th House District from 2017 through 2022, submitted 2,339 signatures to get on the ballot as an independent. The minimum was 1,500.

Cambensy has emphasized affordability issues including the cost of groceries, housing, energy, health care and property taxes. In an August interview with WLUC-TV, she said her research showed few UP voters cast straight-ticket ballots. "There are very few straight-ticket voters, even in Marquette County," Cambensy said in the Aug. 18 interview.

Prestin, 60, a state representative from Cedar River, won the Republican primary over former state Rep. Beau LaFave with about 53 percent of the vote. Before entering politics, Prestin worked as a firefighter and paramedic and ran a truck stop in Cedar River. His campaign priorities include energy policy, rural health care funding, corrections officer staffing and housing affordability for younger residents, according to WZMQ.

Van Ginhoven, a Democrat from Escanaba, serves on the Delta County Board of Commissioners and the Delta County Opioid Taskforce. She was unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the Aug. 4 primary. Van Ginhoven has cited health care access, mental health services, public school infrastructure and teacher support, affordable housing and expanding skilled trades as campaign priorities.

The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3.