The three candidates running for the 12th U.S. House District seat are set to square off again in a debate set for 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Lindenwood Auditorium, 2600 W. Main St., Belleville.
Doors are scheduled to open to ticket holders at 6:15 p.m. This is the third and last debate in a series sponsored by the BND, Lindenwood, WSIU Public Television, the Paul Simon Institute and The Southern Illinoisan newspaper.
As in the first two debates, a panel of journalists from the BND, WSIU and the Southern Illinois will ask questions of Democratic candidate Bill Enyart, GOP candidate Jason Plummer and Green Party nominee Paula Bradshaw.
Spectators at Thursday's event will have the opportunity to submit questions in the lobby before the debate begins. The journalist panel will consider some of those for a lightning round of questions during the debate.
The sponsorship team is changing the applause rules in response to incidents of raucous behavior among some spectators at the second debate. Debate moderator Jak Tichenor will explain those guidelines at the beginning of Thursday's debate, but they are generally designed to limit applause and reduce opportunities for yelling, booing and other outbursts.
Those who can't attend the debate can watch it at bnd.com, where it will be streamed live.
The 90-minute debate will also air live on the WSIU Radio stations WSIU 91.9 FM, WUSI 90.3 FM, and WVSI 88.9 FM and will be streamed live at bnd.com and thesouthern.com.
WSIU-TV will record the debate for broadcast on their primary HD channels -- WSIU-TV 8 and WUSI-TV 16 -- at 8 p.m., Friday, with a repeat at 4 p.m., Sunday.
WSIU also will air repeats on their WORLD channels -- WSIU-TV 8.2 and WUSI-TV 16.2 -- at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Sunday and 6:30 p.m. Monday.
The three candidates previously debated at the WSIU-TV studios in Carbondale and the Marion Cultural and Civic Center in Marion.
Enyart, 63, is a Belleville attorney and a recently retired commander of the Illinois National Guard. Plummer, 30, is a Fairview Heights real estate developer. And Bradshaw, 59, is a Carbondale hospital emergency room nurse.
The three are seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, who is retiring in January after 24 years in office.
The 12th U.S. House District comprises 12 counties in southeastern Illinois, running from Alton in Madison county and ending at Cairo, in Alexander County, in the state's southern tip.
