We tried to hold a candidate forum. Half the candidates wouldn’t show up. Salina League of Women Voters, a non-partisan, nonprofit volunteer organization, invited candidates for Kansas Secretary of State, Attorney General and U.S. House 1st District to meet in Salina.
We decided that if any race had both a Democrat and a Republican willing to appear, we would hold the forum.
In not a single race would both parties attend. In two of the races, the absent candidate would not even reply to our invitation, despite repeated attempts.
It’s a grave concern when candidates for public office refuse to face the public. A political ad is highly edited and may not be accurate or complete. There are few better ways to research voting decisions than to meet a candidate in-person.
We urge you to seek candidate information from other reliable sources. LWV recommends www.vote411.org. Enter your address there to find the candidates who will be on your ballot and information about them. Some candidates have answered questionnaires at our website: lwvsalina.org (under “Elections & Voting”).
The local candidates, parties, offices for which they are running, and their responses to our forum invitations are as follows:
Kansas Secretary of State:
Brian McClendon, Democrat– willing to attend
Rob Hodgkinson, Libertarian – willing to attend
Scott Schwab, Republican – no response
Kansas Attorney General:
Sarah Swain, Democrat – willing to attend
Derek Schmidt, Republican – no response
U.S. House, District 1:
Alan LaPolice, Democrat – willing to attend
Roger Marshall, Republican – responded, unable to attend
LWV has a 98-year record of providing non-partisan information for informed voters. We regret that this year we are unable to hold a forum for you to meet statewide candidates.
Vote on or before Nov. 6.
Your voice – your vote – is crucial to our democracy.
Salina League of Women Voters
Lori Trow, President
Ann Zimmerman, Vice President
Carla Strand, Secretary
Margaret Wyatt, Treasurer
Editor’s Note: The deadline for submission of letters related to the November general election will be Nov. 1.