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Candidates for 12th District seat to debate
March 23, 2008
By Shaun Bishop / Daily News Staff Writer
The five candidates vying to replace the late Rep. Tom Lantos in Congress will square off Tuesday in the only scheduled debate before the April 8 special primary election.
The two-hour event in South San Francisco, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of North and Central San Mateo County, will give two Republicans, two Democrats and one Green a chance to share their views and qualifications for the 12th Congressional District seat.
League President Marie Baldisseri said some of the candidates asked her group to organize a public forum.
Lesser-known candidates have told the Daily News they look forward to having their views heard in a race that Democrat Jackie Speier, a former state lawmaker and San Mateo County supervisor, is favored to win.
Democrat Michelle McMurry, Republicans Greg Conlon and Mike Moloney, and Green Party candidate Barry Hermanson said they believe they can give Speier a run for her money.
All five will appear together on the ballot in an open primary April 8. If any candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, that person will win the seat for the remainder of Lantos' term, which expires in January 2008.
Otherwise, the leading vote-getters from each party will face off in a special election June 5.
Those who attend the debate are encouraged to bring questions that will be screened and asked by a moderator, Baldisseri said. Each candidate will also give opening and closing statements.
Along with four other candidates, the April 8 candidates also have filed to compete for party nominations in a separate June 5 primary for the general election in November, in which voters will select someone to serve the full two-year 12th District term beginning in 2009.
The debate will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the community room at the South San Francisco Municipal Services Building, 33 Arroyo Drive, South San Francisco.
Daily News Staff Writer Will Oremus contributed to this report.
E-mail Shaun Bishop at sbishop@dailynewsgroup.com.
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