Maryland's 1st Congressional District hopefuls will square off in their first public debate this week.

State's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville), state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) and Libertarian Richard Davis will go at it for an hour and a half at Salisbury University starting at 7pm. The event will be free, open to the public and moderated by WYPR-FM's Don Rush.

The first hour will be taped for TV with the next 30 minutes being dedicated to answering questions from students.

Harris and Kratovil participated in a public forum earlier this month at Harford Community College along with the 2nd and 6th District candidates. This time around Harris, Kratovil and Davis will be the only participants.

The 1st District is historically conservative but has an independent bent. Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (R-Stevensville), who was defeated by Harris in the February primary, obtained the seat in 1990 after defeating now-state Sen. Roy Dyson (D-Great Mills). As of Jan. 2008, Maryland's 1st had about 2,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans and had over 65,000 independent voters. Green Party registries clocked in at 935 and Libertarians had a hold of 866.

Maryland's 1st District includes 12 of the 23 counties in the state, which encompasses all of the Eastern Shore and portions of Harford, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties.

The Kratovil-Harris race is widely considered to be the most contested House race in the state. It is ranked the 52nd most competitive U.S. House race in the nation on Politicker.com's Pindell Report and Politicker.com Managing Editor James Pindell lists the race as "Leans Republican."