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.