Salem Mayoral Debate To Be Live-Streamed, Air On SATV On Tuesday Night

SALEM, MA — Salem residents looking to learn more about the five candidates on the ballot to replace Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll as the city's mayor for the next three years will have a chance to do that live through a stream of the Salem State University debate on Tuesday night.

The 300 seats in the Sophia Gorden Center for Creative and Performing Arts filled up within two weeks of the event announcement, but the debate will now also be available to watch live on Salem Access Television Channel 22 in Salem and through a live stream here.

The five candidates who qualified for the ballot — Acting Mayor and Ward 1 City Councilor Robert McCarthy, former Salem City Councilor Steve Dibble, former Salem Mayor Neil Harrington, Salem community activist and former City Council candidate Stacia Kraft, and former Chief of Staff Dominick Pangallo — will be featured at the debate.

Declared candidate Skip Bensley, whose nomination papers were not certified in time to be on the ballot, told Patch that he intends to mount a write-in campaign for the office that extends through the end of what would have been Driscoll's term in 2025.

The event begins at 7 p.m.

The preliminary election set for March 28 will narrow the field to two for the final special election scheduled for May 16.

North Shore Chamber of Commerce CEO Karen Andreas will moderate the forum that is organized by the Frederick E. Berry Institute of Politics at Salem State University, the League of Women Voters of Salem, The Salem Partnership, the Point Neighborhood Association, and the Historic Derby Street Neighborhood Association.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)