Politics & Government

5th Congressional Primary 'Open Debate' Goes Online Saturday

Questions to be submitted and then voted on by citizens from around Mass., the country. The debate will be held at 11 a.m.

There won't be podiums, a stage or an auditorium filled with voters. 

In fact, the first debate between the Democratic challengers seeking to replace Ed Markey as US Representative for the Fifth Massachusetts Congressional District will be "staged" over the internet this Saturday, Aug. 10 at 11 a.m.

Watch the debate broadcast live online at OpenDebateQuestions.com 

Patch will cover the debate and have a summery of the candidates remarks.

Each of the announced Democratic candidates – State Sen. Will Brownsberger (Belmont, Watertown, Boston), State Sen. Katherine Clark (Malden, Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield and Winchester), Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, State Rep. Carl Sciortino (Medford and Somerville) and State Sen. Karen Spilka (Ashland, Framingham, Franklin, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medway, Natick) – have agreed to "attend" the debate.

In addition to the way voters will view this inaugural "Open Debate," the event's organizers – the left-liberal Progressive Change Campaign Committee – are taking a new, more inclusive approach to what issues will be presented to the five candidates.

Rather then have the standard panel of journalists or a high-profile moderator leading the way, each question the candidates will be asked were submitted by citizens who then voted for their favorites. 

So far, more than 1,000 questions have been proposed and approximately 30,000 votes have been cast with the candidates answering the top vote getters. 

"What starts in Massachusetts will hopefully become the norm for local, state, congressional, and even presidential debates in the future," wrote Adam Green, PCCC co-founder in a blog posting in the Huffington Post.

This innovative approach has garnered the attention of the Washington PostBuzzFeed, TechPresidentMassLive and Patch

The 5th Congressional District party primaries will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

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