Tonight, Santa Barbara news station KEYT and online news outlet Noozhawk will televise a live debate for the position of 24th Congressional District Representative, featuring incumbent Lois Capps and former California Ltnt. Gov. Abel Maldonado.

The unrehearsed debate will air at 7 p.m. on channel 3 and will include questions submitted by community members over the past week. It will also be broadcast on a live stream through the Noozhawk website.

Capps, a Democrat, has served in Congress since 1998 and has defended her post amid redistricting that shifted her area of representation from the 22nd district to the 23rd in 2000. Maldonado, a Republican, was elected to the State Senate in 2004 and represented the 15th District until Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him to the office of California Lieutenant Governor in 2009.

Further redistricting since the 2010 elections has created the generally more Republican 24th District, which contains more Northern regions of the former 23rd District.

Capps and Maldonado will also face off at UCSB’s Pollock Theater at Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. for a sold-out debate, hosted by the Santa Barbara Independent and UCSB’s Carsey-Wolf Center. Though the event is free, tickets for Pollock Theater seating have all been reserved; however, an overflow room in Buchanan Hall will screen the debate and follow with a panel discussion. A wine and cheese reception will be held in Pollock Theater following the event.

The debate is co-sponsored by UCSB’s political science and communication departments as well as KCSB 91.9 FM and TVSB, which will continue screening the event until Election Day on Nov. 6.