YAKIMA — Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire and Republican challenger Dino Rossi will debate in Yakima before the Nov. 4 election.

Both candidates have agreed to a debate here, although no date has been set. Gregoire's office announced Monday that the Yakima debate will be one of five across the state in the months leading up to the general election.

"It's an opportunity for issues that are particularly important to Central Washington voters to be debated here," said Michael Shepard, publisher of the Yakima Herald-Republic, which is sponsoring the debate along with KYVE-TV in Yakima.

The plan is to hold the event at the Capitol Theatre sometime in late September or early October, with questions coming from a moderator and panelists, as well as from the public. Voters throughout the state will be able to watch as public television stations broadcast the event live, Shepard said.

Gregoire campaign spokeswoman Debra Carnes said Yakima was chosen as a debate site, in part, because of its central location. The other debate sites are Tacoma, Spokane and Seattle, which will host two.

"We wanted to make sure that every voter had a chance to see, hear and read about the debates wherever they might live," Carnes said.

Rossi campaign spokesman Casey Bowman said Rossi wanted to debate in Yakima for the same reason he came here to officially file as a candidate.

"It's important for Dino to be able to share his vision with voters in communities all over Washington, not just the biggest cities," Bowman said in an e-mail message.