At a debate organized by the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR), Congressman Howard Berman and Congressman Brad Sherman battled each other for the Armenian-American vote in the San Fernando Valley. With the occasional fireworks, the congressmen held little back as they vied for the crucial swing vote a little over a month before Election Day on November 6, Armenian National Committee of America reported.

Over three-hundred community members, many of them undecided voters, packed Avedissian Hall at Ferrahian Armenian School in Encino, California, on Saturday evening to hear the positions and proposals of the two well-respected congressmen pitted against each other in the most closely watched congressional race in the United States. The energetic debate, which became heated a number of times as the congressmen rebutted and refuted each other's arguments, evinced the highly emotional, and oft-contentious, atmosphere of the race.

The debate featured as moderator Zanku Armenian, a columnist with the Glendale News-Press and public relations executive and, as panelists, Harut Sassounian, publisher of the California Courier newspaper and well-known columnist, and Ara Khachatourian, editor of Asbarez English and the immensely popular Asbarez Post and Asbarez.com.

Numerous topics were broached by the panelists including student fee increases in the California university system, recognition of the Armenian Genocide and Genocide-era insurance claims, appropriation of aid to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and its use, the extradition of convicted axe-murderer Ramil Safarov by the government of Hungary to Azerbaijan, trade agreements between the United States and Armenia, and the condition of Armenians in Javakhk in the Republic of Georgia and aid to that region. Written questions were also taken from the audience.

Both candidates stressed the importance of leadership in realizing any of the issues discussed, regularly citing their own history of leadership over the years. While Sherman highlighted his lead in recent polls and his local-level endorsements, Berman pointed to his seniority and long list of endorsements from Members of Congress. Both referenced their strong relationship with the ANCA and recognized its leading role in bring Armenian-American issues to the fore in Washington and locally