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There are less than two weeks to go until Election Day 2024, where voters across the country will decide who will become the next President of the United States. Closer to home, Vermonters will also have to decide who will represent them in key statewide races, with several challengers to entrenched incumbents as well.Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders is being challenged by Republican Gerald Malloy for his U.S. Senate seat.The two candidates will debate each other live on Friday night in the NBC5 Studio in South Burlington on Friday night at 8 p.m. The candidates will address topics ranging from the economy to health care, as well as the responsibility of representing Vermont on the national stage.83-year-old Sanders is seeking his fourth term in office and said he believes America’s democracy is “under threat.”Meanwhile, 62-year-old Malloy is making his second bid for a senate seat after he lost to Democrat Peter Welch back in the 2022 General Election.Malloy said he has met with tens of thousands of Vermonters who want something different, and he believes he can chart a new course.Matt Dickinson, a political scientist at Middlebury College, said this race will be an uphill battle for the Malloy campaign.”It’s very hard to defeat an incumbent senator. Toughly 85% of incumbents who run for reelection win,” Dickinson said. “It’s particularly hard to defeat one who is as popular as Sanders is, in a state that is so disproportionately leaning in one direction. So he has his work cut out for him.”The veteran and former defense contractor, however, said he believes he can “rebuild unity and actually make progress on the issues and problems and crises we are facing.”You can watch Sanders and Malloy debate live on NBC5 beginning at 8 p.m. on Friday.