Republican US Senate candidates will face off for the first time in forum next week
The three Republican candidates for Unites States Senate, fresh off securing places on the April 30 primary ballot, will meet for their first debate next Tuesday at Stonehill College in Easton.
The hour-long forum will mark the first time state Representative Daniel B. Winslow, former US attorney Michael J. Sullivan, and former Navy SEAL Gabriel E. Gomez will face off in a formal public setting.
All three have largely confined their campaigning until now to small groups of Republican activists, as they sought motivate the base of the party and gather the 10,000 signatures required to get their names on the ballot.
The debate will begin at 7 p.m. and be live-streamed on the website of WCVB-TV (Channel 5), according to Peter Ubertaccio, a Stonehill College political scientist, who is helping to organize the event and will serve as its moderator. There are currently no plans to carry the event on television or radio.
The candidates will take questions from Adam Reilly of WGBH, Janet Wu of WCVB, and Chris Burrell of the Patriot Ledger.
On the Democratic side of the race, US representatives Edward J. Markey and Stephen F. Lynch have agreed to six debates - three general issue debates, in Boston, Worcester, and Springfield and three more on specific issues in Lowell, New Bedford, and another yet unnamed community.
Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mlevenson.
