Pop some popcorn and tune in to Spectrum News Friday night to see Durham mayoral candidates Farad Ali and Steve Schewel in a thirty-minute debate.
Ali and Schewel won the most votes in the October primary out of seven candidates on the ballot. Tuesday’s election will decide which of the two will succeed Mayor Bill Bell after his sixteen years in office.
Decision 2017: Durham Mayoral Debate begins at seven-thirty and will be moderated by Spectrum News Capital Tonight anchor Tim Boyum.
Ali is a former city councilman, chair of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority Board and CEO of the The Institute for Minority Economic Development. Schewel is a current city councilman and former school board member. (He also founded the Independent and sold it in 2012).
If Ali wins, Schewel keeps his city council seat, which expires in 2019. If Schewel wins, the council will appoint someone to fill out his term.
The candidates have been put through the ringer ahead of the municipal election. Here they are still smiling at their twenty-fifth forum, Mayor Up, hosted Wednesday by Clarion Content and Heather Cook.
The debate will re-air at twelve-thirty a.m. on Saturday and ten a.m. on Sunday. You can also catch it after Friday’s premiere at SpectrumLocalNews.com.
In the meantime, check out their responses to the INDY‘s candidate questionnaire here.
In the primary, Schewel won about 51 percent votes cast to Ali’s 29 percent. Early voting continues through Saturday at one p.m. and polls open Tuesday at six-thirty a.m.
