Minnesota Sen. Al Franken and his Republican challenger Mike McFadden have agreed to three debates leading up to the election.

The first of the debates will take place in Duluth, followed by two in the metro just before the Nov. 4 election. They are as follows:

• Duluth News Tribune/Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce: 8-9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1
• WCCO TV: 10-11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 26
• Minnesota Public Radio: 7-8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2

Franken spokeswoman Alexandra Fetissoff said that, including a FarmFest candidate forum that took place in July, the Senator will have participated in four debates—the same amount that took place in the 2012 Senate race between Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican challenger Kurt Bills.

The McFadden campaign maintainst three isn't enough. McFadden challenged Franken last month to six debates throughout the state, including in Rochester and Moorhead as well as a Twin Cities Public Television debate in the metro. McFadden spokeswoman Becky Alery said the campaign will continue to push for more debates with Franken, particularly in greater Minnesota.

"We've been seeing throughout this campaign that Sen. Franken has continued to hide from Minnesotans, while Mike has traveled the state and talked to Minnesotans from top to bottom."

Alery added that, with early voting, it's important Minnesotans have the opportunity to hear from the candidates more than a week before election day.

The newly-finalized schedule coincides with a newly-released ad by the McFadden campaign that calls out Franken as "the invisible senator" and features McFadden facing off with an empty podium adorned with a Franken campaign sign. View it here.

UPDATE: The Franken campaign shot back in response to the ad.

"This ad is absurd," Fetissoff said in a statement. "Minnesotans know that Al Franken is working hard for us here in our state and has delivered concrete results for us in the Senate. Investment banker Mike McFadden is more interested in playing political games than solving the real problems that Minnesota families face."