The Starkville-Oktibbeha County Voter Education Initiative will host the first of three municipal election forums this evening.
The forum, scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Greensboro Center, is for candidates in the wards 1 and 2 races. The contests for both wards feature three candidates, with Republicans Ben Carver and Jason Camp and Democrat Christine Williams facing off in Ward 1. Republican Jesse Carver, Democrat Sandra Sistrunk and Independent Lisa Wynn are vying for the Ward 2 seat. Jay Hurdle, with the Voter Education Initiative, said Wynn is the only candidate for this evening’s forum who had not confirmed her attendance as of Sunday afternoon.
The Voter Education Initiative, with assistance from the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, will host a mayoral candidate forum on April 10 at 6 p.m. and a forum for Wards 4, 5 and 7 at the same time on April 19. Each forum is at the Greensboro Center.
Jay Hurdle, with the Voter Education Initiative, said the forums are meant to give voters a chance to become more familiar with the candidates.
“The idea behind the Initiative is that candidates on the national and state level get a lot of recognition,” Hurdle said. “We’re bombard with TV ads and know a lot about them. The local candidates we might not know as much and they are the ones who make a lot of impact on our daily lives.”
Hurdle said the forums will allow residents to hear from local candidates, but also allow them to ask questions. Today’s forum will have three moderators — Mississippi State University Assistant Vice President for Multicultural Affairs and Director of the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center Ra’Sheda Forbes, Clarion-Ledger reporter Sarah Fowler and Dispatch Managing Editor Zack Plair.
In addition to moderator-asked questions, Hurdle said the Voter Education Initiative is taking question submissions through Facebook and Twitter. He said attendees will also be able to submit written questions at the forum, and the Initiative will continue taking social media questions live.
For more information, visit the Voter Education Initiative’s website at www.voterinitiative.org.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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