WASHINGTON - The race to replace U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty will take center stage on Sunday in this small rural town, when Democrats Mary Glassman and Jahana Hayes face off in a candidates’ forum.

The 90-minute forum, which is open to the public, is the first of two candidate events this month between Glassman and Hayes, who are running in an Aug. 14 Democratic primary for the 5th Congressional District.

Glassman, the former longtime first selectman of Simsbury, narrowly won the Democratic endorsement at the party convention in May over Hayes, a political newcomer and former Waterbury educator who won the 2016 National Teacher of the Year award.

“We have a newcomer with a fresh face who is enthusiastic and vibrant, and a candidate who is a solid, experienced person who has been around,” said Susan Branson, the treasurer of the Washington Democratic Town Committee, which is sponsoring the forum.

The forum will begin by asking candidates perennial questions about government, the economy and immigration. That will be followed by a round of “rapid-fire questions,” in which the candidates will be asked to answer “yes” or “no,” Branson said.

Questions will also be taken from the audience, said Branson.

The forum is planned from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at Town Hall.

Esty, a three-term Democrat, dropped her re-election plans in April after admitting her role in covering up an office abuse scandal.

Three Republicans are running in a mid-August primary for the GOP endorsement.

The 5th District covers northwestern and central Connecticut and is the state’s most competitive Congressional seat.

Mary Glassman

Glassman faces Hayes at Sunday forum in Washington