Local Candidates Forum to be held Thursday
The Local Candidates Forum hosted by the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce will be at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Owensboro City Hall, 101 E. Fourth St.
Sponsored by Daviess County Farm Bureau and the Owensboro Neighborhood Alliance, the forum is open to the public.
“Every election cycle we host a series of forums and candidate opportunities for the general electorate to meet the candidates and find out who people are and what they stand for,” Chamber President and CEO Candance Castlen Brake said.
Brake said Thursday’s event will be the first time the chamber will host a candidate forum during primary season.
“This primary season historically is much more busy than we have had in the past,” she said.
The event will be a forum where candidates for each of the offices to be decided in the primary will be asked questions by moderator Matt Francis, executive editor of the Messenger-Inquirer.
Since there are no Democratic primaries this year, the forums will focus on the Republican Party primaries for each of the local offices on the ballot.
Brake said one of the key functions of a chamber of commerce in a city the size of Owensboro is advocacy.
“We are a business association that represents close to 1,000 members, which touches around 35,000 people’s lives,” Brake said. “Advocacy is connecting our members with opportunities to build relationships with the people that make decisions, that impact business and our ability to do business everyday.”
A complete list of candidates participating include:
• Office of Daviess County Clerk: Leslie McCarty and Tonya Payne.
• Office of Daviess County Sheriff: Barry Smith and Brad Youngman.
• Office of Daviess County PVA: Rachel Pence Foster and Jason Pagan.
• Office of Daviess County Commissioner Central: Darrin Autry, Larry Condor, Andy Gamblin, Michael King and Diane Mackey.
• Office of Daviess County Commissioner East: Matt Fitzgerald, Mark Irby, Janie Marksberry and Jimmie Sapp.
• Office of Daviess County Commissioner West: Chris Castlen, Dustin Warren and George Wathen.
• Office of Daviess County Judge Executive: Charlie Castlen, Reid Haire and Will Mounts.
By Matthew Havenner Messenger-Inquirer