Harrisburg mayoral candidates forum scheduled for today is postponed
Updated May 05, 2021;
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The scheduled “Candidates Conversation” between the five candidates in Harrisburg’s Democratic Party mayoral primary will not air at 7 this evening as scheduled, due to technical difficulties during taping.
Event organizers are working to reschedule and will announce a new date as soon as it is confirmed.
Today’s forum was being held virtually and taped for streaming on the two news outlets’ various digital platforms.
One of the area’s most spirited races, the primary presents voters with a choice between incumbent Mayor Eric Papenfuse, who is seeking a third term; current City Council President Wanda Williams; former councilman and Bush Administration official Otto Banks; retired publisher Dave Schankweiler; and Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center general manager Kevyn Knox.
Five Democrats spar in lively Harrisburg mayoral debate
Updated 10:57 PM;
The five Democratic candidates for Harrisburg mayor squared off in their first debate Saturday night, and the battle for votes was charged and pointed.
Challengers Otto Banks and David Schankweiler spent the night on the attack against incumbent Mayor Eric Papenfuse, charging him with failing to fix the city’s most basic problems, and failing to serve all of the city’s residents equally.
Papenfuse, meanwhile, gave a ringing defense of his administration’s work, arguing city government is working better than it has in a generation under his leadership, and that his first eight years have left Harrisburg poised for a new era of growth that he is best-positioned to guide.
First question in Harrisburg mayor’s race: How’s Eric Papenfuse doing?
Updated 6:39 AM;
Today 5:30 AM
Incumbent Mayor Eric Papenfuse,, far right above, faces four Democratic primary challengers as he seeks a third term. They are, clockwise from top left, Otto Banks, Kevyn Knox, Dave Schankweiler, and Wanda Williams.
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Eric Papenfuse is selling competence and steady progress to voters as he seeks a third term as Harrisburg’s mayor.
“By nearly every metric, Harrisburg is better off today than it was eight years ago, but these slow and steady advancements could easily be reversed under different leadership,” Papenfuse told PennLive by email recently, when asked about criticism from some of his Democratic primary rivals.