Citizens of Lowndes County will have the opportunity Thursday to meet the eight Republican candidates for three county supervisor races.
The Lowndes County Republican Party is hosting a public forum for the candidates to answer questions and introduce themselves to the voters. The event will be held at 6 p.m. at the courthouse.
“It’s a good way to showcase our Republican candidates,” party chair Chrissy Heard said. “People can collectively see them all together and hear their views about things without going into a lot of big speeches. This is really a pointed way of having them talk about the issues that we face here in Lowndes County.”
Candidates who will participate include Michael L. Brock, Kevin U. Clark and Matt Furnari, all running in District 1; incumbent Trip Hairston and Brad Holliman, both running in District 2; and Chad Frasher, Tony Hannah and Andy Williamson, all running in District 3.
Democrat Tommy Lee Kidd, who is running for District supervisor, and independent Christopher Moore, running in District 3, were not invited to participate in the forum since it is a Republican Party sponsored event, forum moderator David Chism told The Dispatch.
Chism said the event will be a sort of hybrid forum.
“It will not be a debate, per se,” Chism said. “It will be a forum with the opportunity for some scripted questions to be answered. But most of the questions (candidates) will not have until they are asked.”
He said the questions are randomized via a numbers system. He added that if time allows the floor will be opened for questions from the public.
The main focus of the event is placing a face to the name for the eight candidates, Chism said.
“They won’t have to just guess based on the name of somebody that their cousin might know,” he said. “They’ll have an opportunity to hear who these people are, what they want to do for our community and (find out if) they are really qualified for the jobs for which they are applying?”
There will be two rounds of questions based on varying topics such as perceived needs in the county and current trends. Candidates will also give opening and closing statements.
“They are all very qualified and eager to do this job,” Heard said. “It will be hard for the voters to figure out who they want. This should help, I think.”
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