republican incumbent congressman mike coffman faced off last week against them a credit challenger andrew romanoff -- democratic challenger andrew romanoff. formally served as the speaker of the colorado house of representatives. this race is rated a tossup. kusa-tv, this debate is 30 minutes. >> good evening. let's get right to it. our audience has agreed to hold its applause, to refrain from hooting and/or hollering or the entirety of our 30-minute debate, except for this one moment when we invite our studio audience to join us in welcoming congressman mike kaufman and his challenger andrew romanoff -- congressman mike coffman and his challenger andrew romanoff. [applause] a brief note on the rules of the debate established ahead of time with the campaign -- one-minute responses to questions, some of which will be directed to both candidates, some simply to some candidates. redirects and rebuttals at my discretion in the discretion of my colleague. we will have a short answer section as well. candidates will also be allowed one question to the other candidate. we have not shared topics

mike coffman is taking spanish, learning korea doing outline these things to save his political career. >> we disagree on so many policies. >> by november if you watch tv you'll hate mike coffman and andrew romanoff, because they'll be portrayed as awful, terrible people that will say anything to get elected. >> kay hagan was on the ballot in a better year. >> now they have to run in a tougher environment, one disillusioned by president obama, you have democrats like kay hague jp, facing a -- hague jp, facing a tough election. >>> you can see the premiere tonight 9:00 eastern, 6:00 pacific. be sure to join us for coverage on tuesday, november 4th. >>> after the break in our "the week ahead", states across the country are trying to implement new voting laws, as the supreme court continues to rule on the laws. psh psh >>> welcome back to "al jazeera america". here is a look at your top stories, a cruise ship carrying a dallas healthcare worker who handled a specimen from thomas eric duncan arrived in port. two countries refused to allow the ship to dock during the 7-day cruise. that pers

congressman mike coffman, you're on the record opposing such marriages and mr.anoff, you support them. is there a danger for republicans like yourself to overtime have found themselves now squarely at odds with american public opinion and some would say the course of history text romanoff: i respect the decision of the court. >> moderator: mr. romanoff should americans oppose same-sex religion on religious grounds be forced to participate in such ceremonies and facilitate marriages between same-sex couples do you believe in any kind of a freedom of conscience provision x. romanoff: it gives the freedom of religion to institutions in america but what i think all americans ought to ask themselves -- including congressman mike mike coffman as is a friend and loved one, and i'm speaking in personal experience because i have a cousin who is gay, and i think we all know someone, shouldn't they have the right to marry their partner in extend fully quality under the law to all americans? isn't about simply to suggest i'm part of the legislative branch, when the fact is

participants include incumbent republican representative mike coffman and democratic challenger andrew romanoff. congressman kaufman has been serving in u.s. house since 2009 cholera secretary of state before that. mr. romanoff served in the colorado house of representatives for eight years and was speaker from 2005-2008. this is about 30 minutes. >> good evening. let's get right to it. our audience has agreed to hold its applause to refrain from hooting and hollering for the entirety of our 30 minute debate except for in this one moment when we invite our entire in studio audience in joining us in welcoming mike coffman and andrew romanoff. [applause] >> moderator: a brief note on the rules of the debate a subject of the time with the campaign. one responses to question, some of which will be directed to both candidates, some send it to one candidate, redirect and rebuttals at my discretion of the discretion of my college. will in the short answer session as well. candidates will be allowed to post one question to their opponent and we will have closing statements. we have not shared

more than men and coffman bucked his own party to pass the violence against women act. >> i'm mike coffman and i approved this message. >> this is the african ostrich tall, flightless, had in the sand and this is congressman coffman also with his head in the sand on climate change. 97% of scientists agreed climate change is real. nasa says its worsening extreme weather but coffman is so extreme he questions whether climate change is even a problem and opposes commonsense efforts to reduce carbon pollution. tell congressman coffman it's time to act on climate change. >> i'm very concerned about the direction of our country. i'm not sure we are headed in the right direction. i think washington is not concerned about what's happening to our families. people should look at andrew romanoff's wrecker. he wants to tax us more and he wants to spend more. isn't that obamacare went far enough. andrew romanoff is way too extreme for families. we are to have a big spending big taxing politicians in washington. we don't need another one. the national republican congressional committee is responsible fo

there is a big race in colorado that pits two-term republican commerce and mike coffman, who was redistrictedinto a much more competitive district, a conservative republican who is not tried to moderate his positions, and a democrat, andrew romanoff, is one of the best are cruise the democrats have landed. people will be playing close attention to see if one party has an advantage across the state. seat there is a big open for another classic seat. republicans are running chuck grassley's chief of staff at i that theollumn chief of staff hill is not exactly a great position in an anti-washington, anti-political environment. the democratic letters later running is doing well. those are two races i think will be bellwether type seats for the november election. tot: with that, let's get some phone calls. dean in naples, florida, question or comment here. caller: i would like to comment on the governor's race. i'm going to vote for scott because he has all the right .deas he is such a good man, and he is against gay marriage. he is against abortion and a lot of other things. , and i years old reg