Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank and Jessica Killin, his Democratic challenger, are scheduled to meet for a televised debate in the race to represent Colorado’s 5th Congressional District on Thursday night.

The candidates are set to take the stage at 6 p.m. at the Pikes Peak Center in Colorado Springs for a debate sponsored by The Gazette, Colorado Politics, KOAA News and the El Pomar Foundation. Tickets had to be reserved in advance and have all been claimed, organizers said Wednesday.

The hour-long debate will be broadcast on KOAA News and streamed live on the sponsors’ online platforms at Gazette.com, ColoradoPolitics.com, and KOAA.com.

It’s the opening round in a doubleheader, followed at 7:30 p.m. by a debate between gubernatorial candidates Attorney General Phil Weiser, the Democratic nominee, and former Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez, who is running as an unaffiliated hopeful. Victor Marx, the GOP nominee for governor, declined an invitation to participate.

The debates come just over five weeks before general election ballots go out to Colorado voters.

Crank, a former radio host and longtime political operative, is seeking reelection to a second term in the historically Republican district, whose border nearly coincides with that of El Paso County.

He took over from Doug Lamborn, who represented the seat for 10 terms but didn’t seek reelection in 2024.

Killin, an Army veteran and former chief of staff to Doug Emhoff, then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, appears to be giving the incumbent a run for his money, including surpassing the Republican in fundraising since she declared her candidacy last summer.

An internal poll released last month by her campaign showed the race to be in a statistical tie — within the survey’s margin of error — with Crank leading Killin 45%-44% and 11% undecided.

For the first time, the National Democratic Congressional Committee and its allies are targeting the seat, which hasn’t elected a Democrat since its creation in the early 1970s, citing its voters’ rapid shift toward Democratic candidates over the last decade.

Crank won election two years ago by a nearly 14-percentage-point margin over the Democratic nominee, while President Donald Trump carried the district’s electorate by a little over 9 percentage points. While both margins were decisive — and outside what’s typically considered a competitive range — the two Republicans posted the closest margins yet for either race in a county once known as overwhelmingly in the GOP’s corner.

Crank and Killin are scheduled to face off a second time next month at a debate sponsored by the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC. Set to take place from 3-4 p.m. Sept. 18 at Ent Center for the Arts, near the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs campus, the event is sold out.