Gubernatorial candidates Walter Dalton and Pat McCrory will debate Oct. 24 at N.C. Wesleyan College.

College officials confirmed late Friday night that the hour-long debate will take place at 7 p.m. inside the Dunn Center for the Performing Arts. WRAL-TV is organizing the debate with the college and the Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce and will broadcast it live.

"This is a huge win for Rocky Mount, and we at Wesleyan College are honored to have been selected for the debate site by the Chamber, candidates and WRAL,” N.C. Wesleyan College President James Gray said Saturday. “We are grateful for WRAL’s partnership to make this the most watched debate of the entire campaign. It will give Eastern North Carolina unmatched access to Mr. McCrory and Mr. Dalton as they come down to Election Day.”

Dalton, the state’s lieutenant governor, and McCrory, a former mayor of Charlotte, have debated once already in June during the N.C. Bar Association’s annual meeting in Wilmington.

“We are very pleased to be able to host this event,” said Diane LeFiles, the college’s director of communications. “We feel it will be a great opportunity for the people of Eastern North Carolina to learn about the candidates and make an informed decision.”

Republican McCrory and Democrat Dalton previously had agreed to two debates organized by the N.C. Association of Broadcasters for 7 p.m. Oct. 3 and Oct. 16 at the University of North Carolina Television studios in Research Triangle Park.

Those two debates will air the same night as the first two presidential debates. The debates between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will start at 9 p.m. those nights and last 90 minutes.