Seattle City Council District 7 — which contains the downtown epicenter of the city’s well-documented struggle with crime and homelessness — will be the site of a candidate debate Tuesday tonight.

The 6 p.m. forum at 1513 3rd Avenue (next to the Melbourne Building) is open to the public who will be able to ask questions of the five candidates expected to attend, including: Jason Williams, Jim Pugel, Michael George, Naveed Jamali (who has not yet confirmed), Daniela Lipscomb Eng.

Nine candidates have declared for the District 7 race. The top two finishers in the Aug. 6 primary advance to the general election. In all, 55 candidates have filed candidate papers across the seven council district seats.

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District 7 covers Seattle’s downtown, South Lake Union, Pioneer Square, the International District, Queen Anne and Magnolia. The event was organized by 3rd Avenue Residents — an informal group who live in the heart of the district that has seen a 600 percent population increase over the past seven years.

The debate will be moderated by KIRO Radio’s Mike Lewis of the Candy, Mike and Todd show, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. 0n 97.3 FM and available on demand and streaming.

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