The Leagues of Women Voters of Washington and Snohomish County are hosting candidate debates for Washington State Insurance Commissioner and Secretary of State on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at Edmonds College Black Box Theatre. Doors open at 6 p.m. The Insurance Commissioner debate will begin at 6:30. The Secretary of State debate will follow immediately at 7:15 p.m.

The debates will be in person and will be recorded and live streamed by TVW. The public is invited to attend.

Both debates offer voters a chance to ask the candidates questions and hear their answers regarding how they would do the job of insurance commissioner and secretary of state. Voters can submit questions for the candidates in advance by emailing forumquestions@lwvwa.org.

The candidates for insurance commissioner are Patty Kuderer and Phil Fortunato. The candidates for secretary of state are Steve Hobbs and Dale Whitaker.

Both debates will be moderated by Teresa Wippel of the My Neighborhood News Network.

“The public is invited to attend and hear directly from the candidates on these important races,” said League of Women Voters of Washington President Mary Coltrane. “The League of Women Voters welcomes questions from the public so their concerns are part of the candidate selection process we call democracy.”

Cathy Liu Scott, president of the League of Women Voters of Snohomish County, added,“The league thanks these candidates for their participation. Voters deserve to hear first-hand from those who seek to represent us. These statewide offices hold critical responsibilities—for our elections and our overall health. We look forward to a substantive debate and informative evening. Please join us!”

The public is invited to attend the in-person forum. TVW will also stream the forum on its website at tvw.org. After the event, voters will find the forum posted on www.lwvwa.org and tvw.org.

The Black Box Theatre is located at Edmonds College, 20310 68th Ave. W., Lynnwood. There’s free parking in lots O and P.