Kansas’ primary elections will be held Tuesday, August 2.  In Saline County, several races will be decided in the primary, as some offices do not have candidates from both parties.

To inform the voters of the Saline County area, the Salina League of Women Voters will hold a candidate forum Thursday night at 6:30 at Kansas Wesleyan’s Fitzpatrick Auditorium.

The first session will be for the Saline County Commission.  Contested races are for Commission Districts 2, 4, and 5.  Each race has 3 candidates vying for the Republican nomination.  In District 4, the winner faces a Democratic challenger.  In Districts 2 and 5, the primary winner will also be the Commissioner.

Candidates are:  District 2, Barth Crouch, Robert Vidricksen, and Jim Gile; District 4, David Nichols, and James Weese (Courtney Train, Democrat, has also filed); District 5, David Smith, Mike White, Randy Duncan.

The second session will be for Senate District 24.  Candidates are Randy Hardy, Tom Arpke, and John Price.  Don Merriman, Democrat, has also filed for the position.

Format will be similar for both sessions.  The League will open with its own questions, those that seem foremost in the public mind regarding the offices to be filled.  During that time, written questions will be taken from the audience, and the League will synthesize and ask those questions that can be feasibly answered within this second segment’s allotted time.  Then a third segment will allow for a few audience follow-up questions from the floor.  Follow-up questions should be directed to only one, possibly two candidates.

Each session will have a one-minute time limit for candidate opening statements.  The same time limit will apply to both questions and answers during the sessions.  There will be no closing candidate statements.

The public is invited and encouraged to attend.  It is the League’s hope that this forum will provide meaningful information for voters on Primary Election Day August 2nd.