Politics & Government

Toomey, Vasconcelos, Connolly Agree to Two Debates

The first debate will be held Oct. 16 at SCATV in Somerville, the second will be on Oct. 30 in Cambridge.

It looks like the three candiates in the race for state representative in the 26th Middlesex District, which encompasses East Cambridge and East Somerville, have agreed on details for two debate that will be held in October.

Incumbent State Rep. Timothy Toomey, a Democrat, and his challengers, Republican Thomas Vasconcelos and Independent Mike Connolly, had previously .

The three campaigns .

Find out what's happening in Somervillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Now, an email sent to members of the media Wednesday afternoon from Toomey's campaign address, but including contact information for all three campaigns, said the first debate will take place in front of a live T.V. audience at SCATV on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. 

The debate, it seems, will be divided into three segments:

Find out what's happening in Somervillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • Opening statements
  • Questions posed by voters ahead of time
  • Questions posed by the candidates to each other

It appears the debate will not be moderated, which could be a recipe for an entertaining evening, especially during the segment when candidates ask their own questions. Read details of the groundrules below.

A second debate will be held in Cambridge. It will follow the same format, but the time and place has not yet been determined.

The annoncement points out two other things worth noting:

  • First, if you want to pose a question to candidates for the second segment, contact their campaigns or use this link.
  • Second, if you want tickets, contact any of the campaigns. Space in the live audience is limited.

Here's the announcement, with contact information for the candidates posted under it:

SOMERVILLE – At 7 PM on October 16th the three candidates vying for State Representative of the 26th Middlesex district will participate in a live-broadcast debate in front of a studio audience at Somerville Community Access Television, located at 90 Union Sq., Somerville, MA 02143.

The debate will consist of three segments and should last a total of 90 minutes. The first segment will allow each candidate to address the audience in a two-minute opening statement.

The second segment will consist of the candidates answering questions posed by residents of the 26th Middlesex district. Questions from residents must be submitted by 5 PM on October 15th either to one of the three campaigns or by filling out the form located at <http://bit.ly/SK7sML>. Questions must be answerable by all three candidates and each candidate will have 90 seconds to respond to each question. The candidates will know the questions in advance.

The third segment will allow for candidates to ask each other questions. The candidates will not know their opponents’ questions in advance. Questions can be phrased for one or both other candidates, but both candidates may respond. The candidate asking the question may also give his own response. If a question is posed to a particular candidate, that candidate is allowed the last word before moving on. There are no time limits in this segment.

The debate will be broadcast live on SCATV (channel 3 in Somerville) and tickets for attending the debate in person will be available through the three campaigns. Due to space constraints, tickets are limited. Residents of the 26th Middlesex district (In Somerville: Ward 1; Ward 2, Precinct 1. In Cambridge: Ward 1; Ward 2, Precinct 1; Ward 3; Ward 6, Precinct 1) who would like to attend the debate may be in touch with any of the three campaigns to procure a ticket to attend the live event at SCATV. Members of the press who would like to attend the debate should likewise contact any of the three campaigns.

The three candidates will also participate in a debate in Cambridge at 7 PM on October 30th. The format will be the same as in the Somerville debate, but the location is still to be determined.

Max Chalkin—Campaign Manager for Timothy J. Toomey Jr., State Representative 26th Middlesex District: campaign@timtoomey.org, (201) 965-3297

Thomas Vasconcelos—Republican candidate for State Representative 26th Middlesex District: VoteVasconcelos@gmail.com, (617) 501-8534

Frank Gerratana—Campaign Manager for Mike Connolly, "Progressive Independent" candidate for State Representative 26th Middlesex District: NoMoneyConnolly@gmail.com, (617) 981-6235


 

 


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