University Park, Pa. — The three candidates hoping to replace Congressman John Peterson in Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District will face off in a live debate set for this Thursday on WPSU-TV. Libertarian Jim Fryman, Democrat Mark McCracken and Republican Glenn Thompson will discuss their positions on issues that are important to citizens within the state’s largest district. The debate is set for 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, in the lobby of the Outreach Building at Penn State’s Innovation Park.
“With all the attention being paid to the presidential races this year, we wanted to make sure voters also had a chance to hear from their candidates for Congress, said Nathan Tobey, producer of the debate. “Local races matter too, so we set out to give them the attention they deserve."
Patty Satalia, longtime host and producer at WPSU, will moderate Thursday’s debate.
"With the election just weeks away, we decided to use a debate format to help voters get a sense of the differences between these candidates and their views in order to make an informed choice, Tobey said.
Libertarian candidate James Fryman is the Venango County Libertarian Party chairman. He believes in a smaller role for the federal government. He favors ending the Iraq War, getting rid of corporate income tax and cutting foreign aid.
Democratic candidate Mark McCracken supports farmland preservation and is an advocate for a better public education system. McCracken has served on the Clearfield County government and as a board member of the Clearfield Area School District.
Republican candidate Glenn Thompson has experience with the Republican State Committee and the National Republican Convention Delegation. He says he supports the troops, wants tax cuts and alternate fuels, and supports providing health care for the elderly.
For more information on the candidates and their positions, check out “Candidate Central” at http://wpsu.org/vote08/ online.
Penn State Public Broadcasting (PSPB) serves central Pennsylvania with programming, educational services and community outreach. This public media service produces, acquires and distributes programs that address local interests and reflect the diverse cultural, political, geographic and demographic characteristics of an audience within central Pennsylvania. For more information, visit http://www.wpsu.org online. Penn State Public Broadcasting is part of Penn State Outreach, the largest unified outreach organization in American higher education. Penn State Outreach serves more than 5 million people each year, delivering more than 2,000 programs to people in all 67 Pennsylvania counties, all 50 states and 80 countries worldwide.