The faceoff between the candidates in the 59th District on Monday was the first of several debates the League of Women Voters will be hosting for critical races in Southwest Michigan.

Six candidates in three races will be featured in a single evening on Thursday at Lake Michigan College’s Mendel Center. Two of those debates will be of interest to Cass County voters in particular, as Senator John Proos (R) and Bette Pierman (D), the candidates for the 21st Senate District race, will go head-to-head at 6:30 p.m.; later that night, at 8:15 p.m., Rep. Fred Upton will debate his Democratic challenger, Paul Clements, in the U.S. Congress Michigan District 6 race.

The latter debate should be of interest to many voters, not just because of the importance of the seat, as it’s the sole debate currently scheduled between the candidates, said Susan Gilbert, communications coordinator for the league.

“This is the only one being held in the entire district, including the Kalamazoo area,” Gilbert said.

The format of their encounter will differ slightly from the one used Monday for the 59th debate, Gilbert said. Both Upton and Clements will be given two minutes to answer a selection of questions, from both the event sponsors and members of the audience, with each candidate given a single minute rebuttal as well.

Moderating the proceedings that night will be John Egelhaaf, the executive director of the Southwest Michigan Planning Committee.

Upton, the Republican incumbent, has been serving the district in the U.S. House since 1987. The current chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the native of St. Joseph most recently defeated challenger Jim Bussler in the Republican primary in August to secure his nomination.

His opponent, Clements, is a political science professor at Western Michigan University. He is the latest Democrat to run against Upton, with his most immediate predecessor, Mike O’Brien, coming up short against the congressman in 2012 with 43 percent of the vote, the highest a candidate has scored against Upton since he won office in 1986.

The Proos/Pierman debate earlier that evening will be moderated by Ted Hartzell, the former city editor with The Herald Palladium. Unlike the Upton debate, the candidates will not have a rebuttal period, but will have the opportunity to give an opening statement at the beginning of the debate.

Joining Proos and Pierman for their debate will be the candidates in House District 79 race, Republican Al Pscholka and Democrat Eric Lester. The league has combined state senate and house races into a single forum in previous years to great success, Gilbert said.

“The house and senate deal with the same bills, so there’s no reason the candidates can’t answer the same questions,” she said.

Among the hot topic issues that Gilbert expects the candidates to address on Thursday includes education and roads, she said. As with any debate incorporating audience questions, though, the subjects could vary quite radically throughout the evening.

“This is an opportunity to see candidates answer questions they don’t know about in advance,” Gilbert said. “They just can’t give you a stock response.”

The League plans on uploading a recording of both debates online for people unable to attend on Thursday. However, Gilbert encourages all voters to visit the Mendel Center if possible, to help them make a more informed choice when at the ballots Nov. 4.

“TV ads often give a very skewed view of what the other guy is saying,” Gilbert said. “It’s quite different to see the two candidates standing there, side by side, answering the same questions on very real issues.”