State House Candidates Debates Start Aug. 17

Wakefield Community Access Television will host debates between the candidates seeking the state Senate seat currently held by Richard Tisei and the state representative seat currently held by Katherine Clark.

With Tisei running for lieutenant governor and Clark running for Tisei's seat, no matter what happens, Melrose will have a new state representative and a new state senator for Ward 1-5 come January.

The debates will be held in the auditorium of the Galvin Middle School in Wakefield. With the exception of the first debate evening, all the debates will be moderated by Wakefield Town Moderator Bill Carroll. A copy of the debate, which and carried live on WCAT's government channel, will be sent to MMTV for cablecasting to Melrose voters. Each debate is scheduled to last for one hour and a representative from one of the newspapers in each community in the district will pose the questions.

The debates start on Tuesday, Aug. 17. The schedule for that night is as follows:

• 7 p.m.: State Senate Democratic primary debate between Katherine Clark and Mike Day.
• 8:30 p.m.: State Representative Republican primary debate between Eric Estevez, David Lucas and Monica Medeiros.

The winners of the primary on Sept. 14 will face off in debates against their opponents in the general election scheduled for Nov. 2. The debate schedule for the general election is as follows:

• Wednesday, Sept. 22, 8 p.m.: Clark/Day versus Republican Craig Spadafora.
• Wednesday, Sept. 29, 7 p.m.: Estevez/Lucas/Medeiros versus Democrat Paul Brodeur.

The debates are open to the public. Political signs will not be allowed on school property or in the hall, but they will be allowed on the sidewalk in front of the school.