Tonight's gubernatorial debate between Gov. Rick Scott and challenger Charlie Crist may be more heated.
Little ground was broken last week during their taped Spanish language debate. Today's 7 p.m. debate at Broward College in Davie is their first high-profile statewide televised debate ahead of the election.
According to a new Bay News 9/Tampa Bay Times/UF Graham Center poll, Crist has made up 6 points since late August to pull even with Scott with 40 percent support.
That means both candidates likely will look to establish themselves during the debate.
Meanwhile, a South Florida federal judge has rejected a lawsuit filed by Libertarian Party candidate Adrian Wyllie seeking to force his way into the next gubernatorial debate.
U.S. District Judge James Cohn denied the emergency motion without comment Tuesday.
Wyllie's lawyers had argued that debate organizers raised the polling percentage he was required to meet in order to take part in the debate. The organizers countered that the 15 percent polling threshold has been in place for years.
The third and final debate in the Florida governor's race is Oct. 21 in Jacksonville, again without Wyllie.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.