Debates for the CD1 special election are popping up. But who gets an invite?

Roger Williams University and the Association of Democratic City and Town Chairs reversed course Wednesday and invited state Rep. Stephen Casey to its 1st Congressional District debate later this month after objections from the veteran lawmaker to initially being left out.

Casey, who has represented Woonsocket at the State House since 2013, had similar levels of financial and endorsement support to some of the nine candidates initially invited to the Aug. 17 debate, raising concerns he was excluded for being more conservative than much of the field.

"I went back and spoke to the university and we have decided that we are going to have him participate in the debate," Tom Kane, chairman of the Association of Democratic City and Town Chairs told The Journal Wednesday after he spoke with Casey. "We had a really good chat and he brought up some different points on his campaign and the number of donors he had, and that his money is coming from local Rhode Islanders and not out of state money."

Did ideological differences keep Casey out of the debate initially?

With a dozen Democrats on the September primary ballot, deciding who to invite is a more challenging – and potentially controversial – call for this 1st District special election than for almost any recent Rhode Island campaign.

On top of the number of candidates, there has been no independent polling in the race to help debate organizers objectively determine who the frontrunners are.

When asked earlier this week how the association decided not to invite Casey, as well as serial candidates Spencer Dickinson and Allen Waters, Kane said they did not meet the criteria "due to insufficient commitment to the Democratic Party platform, number of endorsements, as well as total funds raised."

More: Which CD1 candidates qualified for the ballot? Here's what we know.

Kane, the Cumberland Democratic Town chair and chief of staff for Senate Majority Leader Ryan Pearson, wouldn't specify where Casey had fallen short or where his "commitment to the Democratic Party platform," was lacking.

But the Woonsocket Democrat's pro-Second Amendment and anti-abortion views are possible explanations.

"My concern initially was, if we are about democracy, inclusion and equity, and then all of a sudden you are not being included for whatever particular reason – my views are a little different than the majority of candidates in this race – than it looks discriminatory," Casey said Wednesday after he had been offered a spot on the stage.

Boston Globe reporters Edward Fitzpatrick and Steph Machado are moderating the Roger Williams Democratic Town Chair debate, but the paper "was not involved in deciding which candidates would be invited to participate," Globe Rhode Island editor Lylah Alphonse wrote in an email.

The $36,000 Casey had raised at the end of June was more than debate invitee Stephanie Beaute's $6,000. Dickinson and Waters have not reported any campaign fundraising or spending.

Casey's firefighters unions are at least on par with endorsements announced by invitees Beaute, Walter Berbrick, Don Carlson and John Goncalves.

With a large candidate field, debate structure is challenging

Inviting more candidates involves trade-offs for debate organizers with inclusivity on the one hand and, on the other, a crowded stage limiting the number of issues that can be covered in depth and the amount of interaction with each participant.

But while news organizations are often willing to take the heat for limiting invites, it can be more complicated for an affiliate of the Democratic Party.

Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairman Joseph McNamara said Tuesday he would not support excluding Casey on ideological grounds, if that is what had initially happened.

"The Rhode Island Democratic Party does not have litmus tests and I do not support excluding anyone because they may disagree with the majority on one issue," he told The Journal. "We have many members who have very strong Second Amendment beliefs and many represent rural area and they reflect the values of their constituents."

He added: "Most individuals who do not agree with us on one or two very important issues support us on 98% of the issues that are important to our members."

The Rhode Island Democratic Party has a long history of clashes between its progressive and conservative members, but has traditionally favored a "big tent" philosophy that allows members to deviate from party orthodoxy.

So far disagreement has not been a big feature of the 1st Congressional District primary campaign, where candidates have been mostly reluctant to draw sharp policy differences between each other.

In the candidate forums held so far and in responses to surveys, "yes, yes and yes" has been a popular answer to many questions.

How are other organizations handling debate invites?

The Bartholomewtown Podcast is hosting an Aug. 10 debate with six candidates: Gabe Amo, Sandra Cano, Don Carlson, Sabina Matos, Ana Quezada and Aaron Regunberg.

"The criteria is as follows: our assessment of the most viable candidates, based on internal polling, fundraising and media buys," podcast host Bill Bartholomew said on how invites were chosen.

WPRI-TV announced it is holding a debate Aug. 29, news director Karen Rezendes announced. Candidates will need to meet the stringent criteria set by the channel's parent company Nexstar Media for an invite.

WJAR-TV is hosting a debate "the last week of August," news director Scott Isaacs told The Journal, but wouldn't comment on the invite list.

The Providence Journal and Public's Radio are organizing a 1st District debate at Rhode Island College, but have not announced the invitee list.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: CD1 special election debates announced: When they are and who is invited