Your attention may have been on national politics over the past few weeks, but it’s time to switch gears a bit. Next Tuesday, September 16, the League of Young Voters will sponsor a televised candidate forum at the Community Television Network studios at 516 Congress Street, between local city council and statehouse hopefuls. At-large city council candidates will go first at 5:30 pm(the other city races, perhaps because of a dismal lack of competition, won’t be included), followed by state House candidates at 6:30 pm. Maine’s Speaker of the House, Democrat Glenn Cummings (whose seat is up for grabs, as Cummings is being termed out), will moderate.
In addition to the questions formulated by the League and collaborating organizations (Equality Maine, the Southern Maine Labor Council, and the Bayside Neighborhood Organization, among others), community members are encouraged to enter their own questions at the League’s Web site (theleague.com/me/got-a-question-for-a-candidate-1). You’ll be directing your queries toward the following candidates:
City Council At-Large
• Incumbent and current mayor Ed Suslovic, a Democrat.
• Green Independent Tina Smith, a former League organizer.
• Dory Waxman, former school committee member, Democratic City Committee chair, and community organizer.
House District 115 (Back Cove)
• Donna Bendicksen, a Republican who was involved in the effort to repeal Real ID.
• Stephen Lovejoy, a Democrat who teaches business at the University of Maine at Augusta.
• Michael Hiltz, a Green Independent and a registered nurse at Brighton Medical Center.
House District 119 (Parkside)
• Incumbent Democrat and longtime local political fixture Herb Adams.
• Republican Ryan Hendrickson.
• Green Independent Dan Jenkins, a recent college grad who’s getting his masters in public policy from the Muskie School.
House District 120 (Munjoy Hill and the Old Port)
• Democrat and Opportunity Maine founding board member Diane Russell.
• Green Independent and environmentalist Sandy Amborn.
• Republican Peter Doyle, who was outspoken about his opposition to providing birth control to King Middle School students.
