The candidates hoping to represent Maryland's Fifth Congressional District, Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Republican challenger Charles Lollar, will answer your questions at a public forum at 6:30 p.m. Friday, October 29, 2010, at Auerbach Auditorium in St. Mary's Hall at St. Mary's College of Maryland in Southern Maryland. The Fifth District includes Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's counties and portions of Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties. Libertarian Party candidate H. Gavin Schickle has been invited.

The 90-minute forum will begin and end with statements from the two candidates, and they will answer questions. (Send questions ahead of the event to: arlyons@smcm.edu; there will be a way to turn in questions during the forum too.) The session will be moderated by St. Mary's Professor Todd Eberly, also interim director of the Center for the State of Democracy, and Wayne Scriber, president of the St. Mary's County branch of the NAACP. 

Seating in the hall is limited, but there also will be spillover outdoor seating and a public address system.

 Though Hoyer is the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland and won re-election with 75% of the vote in 2008, the political grounds are not so predictable this election year. Congressional Quarterly rates it a "safe Democratic" seat, but the race gained national attention recently when presidential adviser and Republican political strategist Dick Morris declared the seat "winnable."

 St. Mary's College of Maryland, designated the Maryland state honors college in 1992, is ranked one of the best public liberal arts schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. More than 2,000 students attend the college, nestled on the St. Mary's River in Southern Maryland.

MEDIA CONTACT: Todd Eberly, 240-895-4215 or 410-598-1768 or teeberly@smcm.edu