Political Forum Next Week As Elections Heat Up
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
HOUSTON COUNTY – With early voting and party primaries only a few weeks away, The Messenger and the Crockett Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a candidate forum Thursday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Crockett Civic Center.
Originally designed to feature the two gentlemen running for Houston County Sheriff, Incumbent Randy Hargrove and Challenger Zak Benge, we have expanded this and will be speaking with the three Republican candidates for Houston County Commissioners for Precinct One: Incumbent Gary Lovell and Challengers Will Yates and Floyd “Butch” Patton.
The forum will feature Pastor Tim Allen to begin the evening with an invocation, followed by Peanut Queen Wendy Perez to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. The three candidates for county commissioner will take the stage and answer questions The Messenger has prepared to briefly explain who they are and how they plan to represent the precinct.
The candidates for sheriff will follow, where the questions will be more of a discussion, giving the two men time to answer both our questions and speak to one another, hopefully allowing voters to get to know the two men and their plans a little better and make a more informed decision.
Following the forum, each candidate will have the opportunity to visit with voters in a more one-on-one style in the civic center entryway, where each candidate will have a table to answer voters’ questions.
The primary ballot will contain not only local races, but state and even national elections, from the presidential primaries to senate races and several propositions, from issues dealing with illegal immigration to property tax. The Messenger will have more information about these measures as the election approaches.
Early voting begins Tuesday, Feb. 20, ending Friday, March 1 at the Houston County Senior Citizens Center, located at 716 W. Wells Street in Crockett.
The actual primary is set for Tuesday, March 5, with the eventual election to be held Tuesday, Nov. 5.
The Messenger invites our readers to please join us for this important event, to get to know these candidates running for such important races in the county, to support their chosen candidate or just to be better informed about the upcoming elections.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
