ASHFIELD — Besides electing a president, and weighing in on state ballot questions on Nov. 8, area voters will help elect a new state senator to succeed Benjamin Downing.
On Thursday, Republican candidate Christine Canning of Lanesborough and Democratic candidate Adam Hinds of Pittsfield will face off in a forum from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in the Ashfield Town Hall, at 412 Main St.
They will field questions from a media panel and the audience in a two-hour debate, moderated by Ashfield Town Moderator Buz Eisenberg and sponsored by the town’s Council on Aging and various media.
Canning is an educational specialist who has worked for the Springfield, Holyoke and Pittsfield public schools. She owns two educational consulting businesses, Boston Manhattan Group Inc. and New England Global Network LLC.
Hinds grew up in Buckland and is a Mohawk Trail Regional High School graduate. He worked on election campaigns for former U.S. Rep. John W. Olver of Amherst and for former presidential candidate John Kerry from 2003 to 2004. He now heads a North Adams coalition that provides family and child support services.
Each candidate will have up to four minutes to answer questions and 30 seconds for an optional rebuttal.
The last half-hour of the evening will give residents a chance to mingle and to meet the candidates.
Members of the media panel are Cathy Buntin, director of the Shelburne Senior Center, representing the Ashfield Council on Aging; reporter Stephanie Slysz of WHMP radio in Northampton, and reporter Diane Broncaccio of The Recorder. Jean Cherdak of the Northampton Area League of Women Voters will field audience questions.
Falls Cable TV in Shelburne Falls will tape the debate and make it available for viewing on many platforms for those unable to attend.
The event is sponsored by the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Ashfield Council on Aging, League of Women Voters, Falls Cable TV, WHMP, and The Recorder.
The Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden Senate district includes Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Plainfield, Westhampton, Williamsburg and Worthington.