District 2 State Senate, Assembly Debates on Thursday in A.C.

Voters may view Thursday’s debates between Legislative District 2 candidates in person, online or by watching a recording made available immediately after the event.

The William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy and The Press of Atlantic City will sponsor debates between State Senate and Assembly candidates beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday. at the John F. Scarpa Academic Center, 3711 Atlantic Ave., on Stockton University’s Atlantic City campus.

The debates will be held in person and livestreamed on the Hughes Center and Press of Atlantic City websites (stockton.edu/hughescenter and pressofatlanticcity.com). A recording will be archived on the Hughes Center’s site.

The District 2 debates, to be held in the Fannie Lou Hamer Room, will include the following candidates. The public is invited to attend but guests may not bring campaign signs, hats or shirts or any other campaign materials onto state property according to state law.

• At 6 p.m., Republican Sen. Vincent Polistina, an incumbent, will debate Democratic challenger Caren Fitzpatrick, currently an Atlantic County commissioner.
• In the Assembly debate at 7 p.m., Republican incumbents Don Guardian and Claire Swift will face off against Democratic challengers Lisa Bender and Alphonso Harrell.

No other candidates qualified to participate based on standards previously published by the Hughes Center.

John Froonjian, director of the Hughes Center for Public Policy, will moderate. Questions will be posed by Nicholas Huba, digital editor for The Press, and Stockton student Liz Myers, editor of the student-run newspaper, The Argo.

NOTE: If you would like to attend the debates, please email John Froonjian atjohn.froonjian@stockton.edu.