The Austin Chronicle Set to Host its First-Ever Mayoral Debate

The Austin Chronicle will be hosting its inaugural mayoral debate, The Hustle for Mayor, Tuesday, April 21, 7-9pm, at the popular Downtown live music venue Mohawk.

The irreverent event will feature front-running mayoral candidates Lee Leffingwell and Brewster McCracken, and will be moderated by Wells Dunbar, the host of the Chronicle‘s politics vlog City Hall Hustle. Questions will be posed by the moderator, as well as via video, email, Twitter, and directly from the audience. The event will also feature drink specials named for each of the candidates — a referendum on the audience’s favorite — and will be served by guest bartenders including Austin City Council Member Mike Martinez.

Plus, the Hustle will lead each of the candidates in a no-holds-barred rhyme-off, while tunes from Austin’s premier party-rocker DJ Mel will play throughout the evening. Topping it all off is a celebration of City Hall Hustle’s one-year anniversary on the video-blogging scene, and the launch of City Hall Hustle’s intimate, one-on-one video interview series with the candidates, The Hustle for Mayor. Election day is May 9, while early voting begins April 27.

“I’ve been to tons of election forums where the candidates outnumber the folks in the audience,” says fourm creator and host Dunbar. “With The Hustle for Mayor, the Chronicle and I are really excited to promote and present a fun and informative forum, one that we think will attract younger voters who wouldn’t ordinarily turn up.”

For more information, including a link to The Hustle for Mayor Facebook event page, visit www.austinchronicle.com/hustle4mayor. To submit questions for the event, e-mail hustle (at) austinchronicle.com, Tweet them @cityhallhustle, or use hashtag #H4M.

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