Here’s another opportunity to see and hear the two Fort Worth mayoral candidates in a debate: The Fort Worth Report and KERA are holding a virtual debate between Deborah Peoples and Mattie Parker, noon Tuesday May 18.
“Fort Worth Decides: The Mayoral Debate” will appear on the keranews.org and fortworthreport.org sites and on the KERA and Fort Worth Report Facebook pages. Peoples and Parker received the most votes in the May 1 mayoral election from a field of 10 candidates, and are in a runoff June 5. Early voting runs May 24-June 1; early polls are closed on Memorial Day.
"We are pleased to partner with fellow nonprofit news organization KERA to offer our audiences a nonpartisan way to learn about the two mayoral candidates,” Chris Cobler, CEO and publisher of the Fort Worth Report, said. “We consider educating, engaging, and empowering Fort Worth residents to be at the core of our mission."
“This election is clearly a pivotal moment for Fort Worth,” Rick Holter, KERA vice president of news, said. “And we’re excited to work with Fort Worth Report to help our audience in the city get to know the candidates — and ultimately get the context they need to make an informed decision.” Peoples, 68, chairwoman of the Tarrant County Democratic Party, finished first in May 1 election with 22,551 votes. Parker, 37, former chief of staff to Mayor Betsy Price, received 20,964 votes.
Sam Baker, KERA senior editor and local host for its “Morning Edition” program, will moderate the virtual debate. Questions will cover three topics and come from Cobler, Fort Worth Report journalist Jessica Priest, and KERA’s Fort Worth reporter, Miranda Suarez.
The Fort Worth Report and KERA welcome questions from readers ahead of the debate. To submit questions, email [email protected]. Questions will be accepted during the livestream via the stream’s chat.
To learn more about “Fort Worth Decides: The Mayoral Debate”, visit keranews.org/fwdecides.