Post updated at 6:27 p.m. Tuesday, July 9:
Four candidate forums are coming up, featuring candidates running for Douglas County Commission as well as the Lawrence- and Douglas County-area candidates running in the primary elections for Kansas House and Senate.
Reminder: Tuesday, July 16 is the last day to register to vote in the Aug. 6 primary election. Early voting begins Wednesday, July 17.
Douglas County voters can take care of their voter registration and updates and request a ballot to be mailed to you at ksvotes.org. Check your districts at myvoteinfo.voteks.org.
All the forums listed here are free to attend and open to the public.
Read more about the races and the candidates at this link:
First up, the Douglas County Rural Preservation Association, which aims to protect rural Douglas County for future generations, will host a meeting for county commission candidates.
An organizer said the group has invited all candidates of all parties running for the four commission seats on the ballot this year. That’s set for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, July 12 at Building 21 of the Douglas County Fairgrounds, and there will be a question-and-answer session.
Next, the second of two sets of forums hosted by the NAACP and League of Women Voters of Lawrence-Douglas County is set for Saturday at the Watkins Museum of History, 1047 Massachusetts St.
The forum will open with candidates running for Kansas Senate from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday. All three Democratic candidates running for Senate District 19 — Vic Miller, ShaMecha King Simms and Patrick Schmidt — as well as Republicans Cynthia Smith and Tyler Wible have confirmed that they plan to participate. In addition, the forum will include Senate District 2 candidates Marci Francisco and Christina Haswood.
The second forum, for Kansas House of Representatives candidates, is set for 3 to 4 p.m. District 46 candidates Brittany Hall and Brooklynne Mosley, and District 10 candidate Suzanne Wikle, all Democrats, have confirmed that they plan to participate.
Both of those races will likely be decided in the Aug. 6 primary election because there are no Republicans running for either seat.
There will be informal visiting with candidates in between the forums, from 2:30 to 3 p.m., and following the second forum, from 4 to 4:30 p.m. Candidates who do not face opponents in the Aug. 6 primary have been invited to participate in the visiting time.
Finally, the Lawrence/Douglas County Chapter of Women for Kansas will host an online candidate forum for the Democratic candidates running for Kansas Senate District 2: incumbent Sen. Marci Francisco and challenger Christina Haswood, who currently represents part of Lawrence in the Kansas House.
That’s set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 16. Register at this link.
We’re keeping a playlist of video recordings of candidate forums as they’re posted. View the playlist on YouTube at this link or visit our channel at youtube.com/@lawrencekstimes.
You can also read our coverage of previous forums at lawrencekstimes.com/election2024.
Know of forums we’re missing? Please let us know!
Key election dates
Douglas County voters can take care of their voter registration, updates and ballot requests at ksvotes.org. Check your districts at myvoteinfo.voteks.org.
• Deadline to register, or update your registration, to vote on Aug. 6: Tuesday, July 16
• Early voting begins: Wednesday, July 17; times and locations to be announced
• Deadline to request an advance voting mail ballot for the Aug. 6 primary: Tuesday, July 30
• Election Day: Primary — Tuesday, Aug. 6. General — Tuesday, Nov. 5
More election info: LawrenceKSTimes.com/Election2024
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