Normally, candidate forums during the election season see voters turn out to hear the thoughts and concerns of the individuals they will be voting on come election day.
Wednesday evening, however, Kansas Spanish Speakers turned this format upside down at the Lee Beran Recreation Center and instead put the spotlight on the voters themselves with their first candidate listening forum. During the session, residents had the opportunity to express their concerns, passions and thoughts on current issues while candidates simply sat and listened.
While this was the first forum of its kind, it was the second hosted by Spanish Speakers after they held a candidate forum last October. Dains says the organization felt it was important to allow voters to “reclaim their voices.”
Dains adds that while he believes all candidates begin with a desire to hear from constituents, he says it can be easy to “lose ourselves in our own echo chambers,” making platforms like Wednesday’s an important addition to the political process.
Seven candidates, all seeking state positions, appeared for the forum, including Democrat Don Coover, who is seeking to supplant US District 2 Congressman Republican Derek Schmidt in the upcoming election. Coover says he appreciated the format, noting the importance of hearing directly from constituents, adding he has been actively communicating with voters in recent months.
As for major issues, Coover says many of the national topics which have dominated headlines in recent months remain some of the focal points in the discussions he has had thus far.
Also in attendance was Gubernatorial Write-in hopeful Independent Dr. Sharilyn Ray, who noted she has been running the campaign for the past year and felt it was important to offer voters an alternative option outside the traditional parties.
If she were elected, Ray says she has some immediate focuses, including the repeal of Kansas Senate Bill 98, which provides a 20-year state and local sales tax exemption for “qualified hyperscale data centers.”
In addition to Coover and Ray, candidates in attendance included Kansas House 16th District Republican Incumbent Mark Schreiber and Democrat challenger Madison Glover, Democrat David Claridge and Republican Russell Stukey who are seeking to fill the soon-to-be vacated Kansas House 76th District Seat and Democrat Mark Remmert who is seeking to supplant Republican Incumbent Duane Droge as Kansas House District 13 Representative.
All of these candidates, aside from Coover and Ray, will join or already have joined KVOE’s candidate forum series. Remmert was the subject of a candidate spotlight Tuesday with that audio available online in the KVOE.com Audio Vault.
Glover and Schreiber will appear for a candidate forum Thursday at 10:06 am while Stukey and Claridge are set to appear at 10:06 am Tuesday, October 13th. All forums will be available in the KVOE.com Audio Vault following their completion.
