Fox61 will host a Hartford mayoral debate Thursday night in partnership with the League of Women Voters of Connecticut.
The debate will be streamed live on the station’s website, Facebook page and mobile app and it will be broadcast on television at 10 a.m. Sept. 1 as a special one-hour edition of “The Real Story and Real People with Stan Simpson,” the station announced Friday night.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, former Mayor Eddie Perez, state Rep. Brandon McGee and J. Stan McCauley have agreed to participate, the station said. News anchor and political reporter Jenn Bernstein will moderate.
Bronin is running for reelection and will face Perez and McGee in a Democratic primary next month. McCauley will run independently in the November general election and received the cross-party endorsement by the Hartford Republican Town Committee.
The announcement follows a spate of confusion about another debate that had been tentatively scheduled to be broadcast by Fox61 but was organized by Hartford resident Mark Anigbo.
That debate, originally scheduled for Monday, became a sticking point last week after Bronin declined to participate and Fox61 in turn canceled its broadcast because not all of the major candidates were involved.
Bronin’s opponents lambasted his decision and he ultimately agreed to participate, if the debate was still held, but even supposed sponsors of the event were still in the dark about its details this week.
The station’s announcement Friday made no mention of Anigbo. He could not be reached for comment late Friday night.
“We are excited to bring this debate to the people of Hartford across our FOX61 platforms,” said Jon Hitchcock, Vice President and General Manager of FOX61. “With the September 10th primary fast approaching, it’s important for the candidates to debate the issues and lay out their vision for Hartford’s future.”
Zach Murdock can be reached at zmurdock@courant.com.
