Candidates for the state Legislature and U.S. House are invited to the Community Arts Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m. to debate the issues.
Ken Sawyer of WRAK Radio is to serve as moderator of the political forum co-sponsored by the Lycoming County Democratic and Republican committees.
Candidates invited to the event are: Republican Dave Huffman and Democrat Rick Mirabito, 83rd state House; Republican E. Eugene Yaw, Democrat Louis "Trey" Casimir and Independent Michael Dincher, 23rd state Senate; U.S. Rep. Chris Carney, D-Dimick, and Republican Chris Carney, 10th Congress; and Democrat Mark McCracken, Republican Glenn Thompson and Libertarian James Fryman.
Lycoming County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Jessie Bloom said it probably marks the first time both major political parties have come together to organize a candidates forum locally.
She said she and Lycoming County Republican chairman Jeff Stroehmann have long considered coming together to organize an event to allow political candidates to discuss the issues publicly.
"It shows there is not a lot of animosity between the two parties," she said, adding: "We do have our own ideologies."
Stroehmann said he hopes the two sides can continue co-sponsoring forums in coming elections.
"The more we can show unity, the more we are doing our jobs," he said. "Hopefully, it will be an event that the community can look forward to."
Although not all the candidates have committed to the event, Bloom and Stroehmann both are hopeful that the public will hear as much about the issues as possible with election day just a week after the event.
"It's great that the Community Arts Center is doing this as a public service," Bloom said.
