Domingo Garcia vs. Marc Veasey

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 5, 2012

DALLAS/FORT WORTH – KERA will host a debate between the Democrats who finished first and second in the May primary for the U.S Representative seat from District 33. In The Texas Debates: Congressional District 33, former Dallas Councilman and former Texas House member Domingo Garcia and State Representative Marc Veasey will square off in a half-hour television debate broadcast on KERA-TV Channel 13 at 10:00 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, July 10, with encore broadcasts at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 13, and Sunday, July 15 at noon. The debate will be available online at texasdebates.org immediately following the initial television broadcast. The program, sponsored by AARP, will air on KERA 90.1 FM at 5:00 p.m. CDT on Sunday, July 15. The newly formed Congressional District 33 includes parts of both Dallas and Tarrant counties. The winner of the district’s Democratic run-off election will then face Republican Chuck Bradley.

The debate will be moderated by KERA Managing Editor Shelley Kofler. Questions will be posed by Crystal Ayala, political reporter for Univision Texas, Fort Worth Business Press reporter David Montgomery and Bill Zeeble, reporter for KERA. To find out more information about the program and the candidates, go to texasdebates.org.

The debate is third in a series of U.S. Congressional debates produced by KERA. Republican candidates Ted Cruz, former Texas Solicitor General, and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst took part in a live U.S. Senatorial debate on Friday, June 22, 2012, and Democratic candidates Paul Sadler, former Texas state representative, and retired educator Gray Yarbrough went head-to-head in a taped debate that aired on KERA Channel 13 on Wednesday, June 27. Both debates are available for on-demand viewing at texasdebates.org.

The Texas Debates is produced by KERA in partnership with Univision Texas.

MODERATOR AND PANELISTS

KERA Managing Editor and Debate Moderator Shelley Kofler is an award-winning broadcast journalist and television producer with expertise covering public policy issues, statewide elections and presidential primaries for KXAS-TV/NBC-5, WFAA-TV/ABC and KERA.

Crystal Ayala is an Emmy-nominated journalist currently working as a news anchor and reporter for Univision Dallas. Previously, she worked as a San Juan news correspondent for NTN24TV (International News Network), an associate producer for Univision National News and Affiliate News Department and as a reporter for Univision Denver.

Dave Montgomery has covered virtually every type of story from U.S. presidential races to Kremlin intrigue during nearly five decades as a professional journalist. During a 31-year stint with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Montgomery served as a bureau chief in Austin, Washington and Moscow. He now covers the Texas state capitol for the Fort Worth Business Press.

Bill Zeeble has been a reporter at KERA since 1992, covering everything from medicine and the Mavericks to education and politics. He’s won local, state and national journalism awards including honors from the Dallas and Texas Bar Associations, The Associated Press and Public Radio News Directors, Inc. He has co-anchored presidential primary radio debates and sat on debate panels for local races.

THE PRODUCTION TEAM

Sylvia Komatsu, Executive-in-Charge, is executive vice president and chief content officer for KERA/KXT. She conceived and developed the national Emmy Award-winning series, The U.S.-Mexican War (1846-1848). Among her many national public television credits as program executive are JFK: Breaking the News, Matisse & Picasso and After Goodbye: An AIDS Story.

Shelley Kofler, Executive Producer and Moderator, is managing editor for KERA News and an award-winning broadcast journalist and television producer with expertise covering public policy issues, statewide elections and presidential primaries for KXAS-TV/NBC-5, WFAA-TV/ABC and KERA.

Alexis Yancey, Producer, is an independent producer and owner of Alexis Yancey Productions. An award-winning network news producer, her credits include contributions to the CBS Weekend News, Sunday Morning, Street Stories with Ed Bradley, 20^th Century with Mike Wallace, America Tonight and CBS News This Morning, and additional experience with WFAA-TV in Dallas, WBZ-TV in Boston and WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee.

ABOUT THE PARTNERS

KERA is a not-for-profit public media organization that serves the people of North Texas. The station broadcasts to the fourth-largest population area in the United States. KERA produces original multimedia content, carries the best in national and international public television and radio programs, and provides online resources at www.kera.org. KERA-TV broadcasts on Channel 13.1. KERA-FM broadcasts on 90.1 in Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton, 88.3 in Wichita Falls, 100.1 in Tyler and 99.3 in Sherman.

Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) is the leading media company serving Hispanic America. Among many assets, UCI includes Univision Network, one of the top five networks in the U.S. regardless of language, and the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the country, reaching 97% of U.S. Hispanic households; and Univision Television Group, which owns and/or operates 62 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico. www.univision.net

###