Press Release: The Office of Campaign Finance Announces Inaugural 2020 DC Debates Schedule and Details

News Release — DC Office of Campaign Finance

(September 28, 2020)

(WASHINGTON, DC) — The Office of Campaign Finance (OCF) today announced further details about the virtual 2020 DC Debates. The 2020 DC Debates are the inaugural debates under the Fair Elections Program (FEP). Started in 2018, FEP is a voluntary public financing program, operated by the Office of Campaign Finance, to support candidates for local political office in the District of Columbia.

“Our team is excited to have such wide support from candidates, who have worked with us on the format and technical matters, along with our community partners, who have helped get the word out about our debates for citywide public offices, said Cecily E. Collier- Montgomery, Director of the Office of Campaign Finance. Given the large field of candidates, we are pleased to offer three debates for the At-Large Council race to accommodate all of the candidates interested in participating. OCF will provide a platform for District voters to hear directly from all of the candidates in a virtual format that is convenient and safe for all.”

For this election cycle, OCF will hold debates for the 2020 At-Large Member of the State Board of Education and At-Large Member of the Council of the District of Columbia races. The FEP has a mandatory requirement that all certified candidates running in a city-wide contested election for certain offices must participate in a minimum of one debate for the covered office. Any non- participating candidates (i.e., candidates registered within the traditional program and not in the FEP) who have registered for the covered office and qualified for the ballot, may also participate in the debate.

The September 29th At-Large Member of the State Board of Education candidate debate will be moderated by Washington Post education reporter Perry Stein:

Debate: September 29, 2020, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM

The September 29th and 30th debates for At-Large Member of the Council of the District of Columbia will be moderated by Washington Post reporter Fenit Nirrapil:

Debate 1: September 29, 2020, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM Debate 2: September 30, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM Debate 3: September 30, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM

Please visit www.2020dcdebates.com to watch the debates online and view a list of the participating candidates. Members of the public are encouraged to submit questions in writing or by video, which may be considered by debate moderators for use in the debate. To submit a question please visit this link 2020dcdebates.com. The debates will be streamed live online, and recordings will remain online for viewing after the debates through the remainder of the calendar year.

OCF will continue to release additional details about the debates through press releases, a public information campaign and our official Twitter account (@DCOCF15).

Stay tuned for more information!