As part of our continuing partnership with Connecticut Public, and in recognition of the Connecticut League of Women Voters and its efforts to promote civic-mindedness, The Newtown Bee is proudly co-presenting a series of political debate webcasts presented by these two organizations.

The series continues Thursday, September 29, and is scheduled to conclude on October 27.

All readers and visitors need to do is visit newtownbee.com at the designated time, locate the latest debate reminder at the top of the website home page, and click on the headline. Once the article page opens, just click on the arrow in the middle of the video screen below and tune in.

All remaining debates and corresponding webcasts are set for select Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 pm.

Each debate will feature a live audience and will be broadcast and streamed on Connecticut Public platforms, including CPTV, ctpublic.org, YouTube and Facebook Live, as well as the LWVCT website and YouTube channel.

The debates will also be simulcast on Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR 90.5, WEDW and WVOF 88.5, WPKT 89.1 and streaming at ctpublic.org). Each debate will be moderated by Connecticut Public journalists. The debate series will also be produced as podcasts, accessible via the App Store, Google Play and other common podcast platforms.

For anyone interested in watching via webcast, or attending in-person, the dates, locations and moderators for the remaining series of debates are scheduled as follows:

Thursday, September 29, 8 pm – 2nd Congressional District (Eastern Connecticut State University, Fine Arts Instructional Center Concert Hall, Willimantic, CT), moderated by Catherine Shen

Tuesday, October 11, 8 pm – 1st Congressional District (Manchester Community College, SBM Charitable Foundation Auditorium, Manchester, CT), moderated by Ray Hardman

Thursday, October 13, 8 pm – 4th Congressional District (Norwalk Community College, David Levinson Theater, Norwalk, CT), moderated by Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean

Thursday, October 20, 8 pm – 5th Congressional District (Central Connecticut State University, Torp Theatre, New Britain, CT), moderated by Frankie Graziano

Tuesday, October 25, 8 pm – United States Senate (Fairfield University, Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Fairfield, CT), moderated by John Henry Smith

The final Connecticut Public debate was scheduled for Thursday, October 27, at 8 pm between Governor Ned Lamont and GOP challenger Bob Stefanowski. That event was set to happen at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, and be moderated by Lucy Nalpathanchil.

However, on September 16, the reelection campaign for Lamont announced it will participate in two debates and four candidate forums ahead of the November 8 election. The first of those debates aired September 27.

The second, according to the Lamont campaign, will be co-hosted by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) and WTNH on Tuesday, November 1, at the CCM Annual Meeting at Mohegan Sun Casino.

"These are the only debates in which Governor Lamont will be participating," the release stated. Upon seeking clarification, a representative of CTPublic told The Newtown Bee, "we are still working on it."

The location of the congressional debates at colleges and universities in the districts was designed with the goal of including as many students and young people as possible in the debate process.

To learn more about the League of Women Voters of Connecticut, visit www.lwvct.org.