Salem Mayor Debate Set Ahead Of May 16 Special Election

SALEM, MA — The two final candidates on the ballot for the May 16 Salem mayoral special election will meet in a one-on-one debate at the Hawthorne Hotel on April 26.

The Salem Chamber of Commerce is organizing the debate between former Salem Mayor Neil Harrington and former Chief of Staff Dominick Pangallo in the event co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

The 90-minute debate will be held at 6 p.m. with doors open at 5:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public with reserved seating available to Salem Chamber event sponsors.

Other seats in the venue will go to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. The Chamber said that Salem Access Television is also planning to televise the debate.

(Also on Patch: Salem Mayoral Candidate Visions Compare, Contrast In Video Interviews)

Moderator David Olson will ask questions along with those provided by the Salem Chamber and the audience in attendance. Olson will determine the order of questions and which ones get asked of the candidates.

Water will be provided and beverages will be available for purchase through the Hawthorne Hotel. No outside beverages or food will be allowed.

The two candidates are vying to fill out the remaining three years of the fifth term that former Mayor Kim Driscoll was elected to in 2021 before she successfully ran for lieutenant governor. The term runs through the end of 2025 when it will be up for election in the regular cycle.

Pangallo and Harrington were the top two finishers out of a field of five on the ballot for the preliminary election held on March 28.

(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.)