State Debate Series Kicks Off In West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD, CT — The University of Hartford next month will host the secretary of the state's debate in the runup to the November elections, the start of a larger, statewide debate series this year.

The debate will be Thursday, Sept. 15, at 8 p.m. in the University of Hartford, Lincoln Theater, West Hartford, to be moderated by Walter Smith Randolph of Connecticut Public Broadcasting.

It will be one in a series of political debates co-produced by Connecticut Public and the League of Women Voters of Connecticut.

The West Hartford debate will kick off at the University of Hartford.

The other debates will include the statewide offices of governor, U.S. Senate and Connecticut’s five U.S. Congressional districts and be held at other colleges and universities across the state.

They will run for seven weeks, beginning Sept. 15 at UHart and continue through the end of October in advance of the November general elections.

Other debates are:

• Thursday, Sept. 22, 8 p.m. – 1st Congressional District (Manchester Community College, SBM Charitable Foundation Auditorium, Manchester, CT), moderated by Ray Hardman.

• Thursday, Sept. 29, 8 p.m. – 2nd Congressional District (Eastern Connecticut State University, Fine Arts Instructional Center Concert Hall, Willimantic), moderated by Catherine Shen.

• Thursday, Oct. 6, 8 p.m. – 3rd Congressional District (Gateway Community College, Curan Community Center, New Haven), moderated by Lisa Hagen.

• Thursday, Oct. 13, 8 p.m. – 4th Congressional District (Norwalk Community College, David Levinson Theater, Norwalk), moderated by Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean.

• Thursday, Oct. 20, 8 p.m. – 5th Congressional District (Central Connecticut State University, Torp Theatre, New Britain), moderated by Frankie Graziano.

• Tuesday, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. – U.S. Senate (Fairfield University, Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Fairfield), moderated by John Henry Smith.

• Thursday, Oct. 27, 8 p.m. – Governor (Fairfield University, Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Fairfield), moderated by Lucy Nalpathanchil.

Each debate will feature a live audience and be broadcast and streamed on Connecticut Public platforms, including CPTV, ctpublic.org, YouTube and Facebook Live, as well as the LWVCT website and YouTube channel.

The debates will also be simulcast on Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR 90.5, WEDW and WVOF 88.5, WPKT 89.1 and streaming at ctpublic.org).

Each debate will be moderated by Connecticut Public journalists.

The debate series will also be produced as podcasts, accessible via the App Store, Google Play and other common podcast platforms.

In addition, a live stream will be offered to any media outlet or organization in the state that would like to stream the debates through their platform.

“We are thrilled for the opportunity to collaborate with the League of Women Voters to bring these debates to the people of Connecticut, '' said Tim Rasmussen, Chief Content Officer of Connecticut Public Broadcasting.

"The League is very excited to partner with Connecticut Public to bring these debates to the public,” said Laura Smits, president of the League of Women Voters of Connecticut. “We both share a vision of offering voters direct access to the candidates in a straightforward and non-partisan way. Right now, in a world with so much access to information, it’s important that voters can hear from voices they can trust.”

For the full announcement, click on this link.