TOPSHAM
A public forum has been scheduled to introduce to the public those who would represent Sagadahoc County and Dresden in the state Senate.
The Times Record and WCME Radio 9 announced the event — a moderated forum debating issues facing the state — last week.
The forum will be held at the Topsham Municipal Building at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23.
The special election to replace former state Sen. Seth Goodall, D-Richmond, is Tuesday, Aug. 27.
The invited candidat e s are Eloise Vitelli, an Arrowsic Democrat; Paula Benoit, a Phippsburg Republican; and Daniel Stromgren, a member of the Maine Green Independent Party from Topsham.
The Vitelli campaign has indicated interest in attending the forum.
Other candidates aren’t so sure.
Robert Caverly, a member of the Benoit campaign, said in an e-mail Wednesday the Benoit is “not making any commitments at this time.”
Earlier, the Greens sent a reply to The Times Record indicating Stromgren prefered “an open dialogue with the other candidates and their campaigns about how best to participate in a debate that most meaningfully, and directly, connects the candidates with the voters without that relationship being brokered by a media outlet.”
“We appeal to our peers that we participate in a town hall style forum of debate instead,” Benjamin Meiklejohn, a Stromgren supporter, wrote to The Times Record in response to the invitation.
“Our desire is to engage our 9,000 readers with the candidates for this important public office in a meaningful dialogue on the issues,” said Bob Mentzinger, managing editor of The Times Record. “Whether or not the candidates schedule their own event, The Times Record will query those candidates who appear at our forum on Aug. 23, so voters can hear each of them respond to questions from both the media and the public.”
An editorial endorsement will be published on The Times Record OpEd page on Monday, Aug. 26.
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