Sedona AZ (June 23, 2016) – Some candidates will win the August 30 primary election and not have to go on to the general election if there is no candidate from the opposing party. For example, Yavapai County Supervisor for District 3, the seat vacated by Chip Davis, will be finalized in the primary because only 2 Republicans are running. One will be the winner of the Republican primary and there are no Democratic candidates running to challenge the Republican primary winner in the general election in November. “It’s really important for people to vote in the primaries or they don’t get to choose their representatives for a number of offices if they wait for the November election,” said Robyn Prud’homme-Bauer, Vice President of the League of Women Voters Greater Verde Valley. Prud’homme-Bauer is organizing League of Women Voters candidate forums which begin on July 16 and end on July 28.
Candidate Forums begin on Saturday, July 16. The LWV and the Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce are co-sponsoring “Forum Day” including 4 consecutive candidate forums from 9:30-5PM at the Cottonwood Recreation Center, 150 S. 6th, Cottonwood. For Congressional District 1, the 7 Republican candidates will have their forum from 9:30-11AM and the two Democratic candidates will present from 11:15AM to 12:45PM. From 1:00-2:30PM, the forum for two Republican candidates for County Supervisor, District 3, will be on stage. From 2:45-3:45PM the public can hear from the 3 Republican candidates for Constable-Verde Valley, and from 4-5PM, the forum of 2 Republican candidates for County Assessor will take place. As you can see from the above, the winners for the County Supervisor and Assessor races will be determined in the Primary since there are no Democratic opponents for the November election.
On July 18, The LWV and Big Park Regional Coordinating Council will co-sponsor a County Supervisors Candidate Forum from 6-8PM in the Vista Room of The Collective Sedona at Tequa Plaza in the Village of Oak Creek. There are two candidates and the winner will be decided in the August 30 Republican primary.
The Sedona City Council Candidate Forum, co-sponsored by the LWV and the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, will be Tuesday July 19, 6:00-8:30PM at the Sedona Public Library, 3250 White Bear Rd, Sedona. There are two candidates for the two year seat and 4 candidates for the 3 four year seats. The Mayor is an uncontested election.
On Wednesday, July 20, The Cottonwood City Council Candidate Forum will take place at the Cottonwood Recreation Center. From 6-7:30PM the five candidates for Council will present and from 7:45-9PM, the three candidates for Mayor will take the stage.
The Camp Verde Forum for Mayor and Council Candidates will be Thursday, July 28, 6-8PM at the Phillips England Center for the Performing Arts at Camp Verde Unified School District, 410 Camp Lincoln Rd., Camp Verde. There are 3 candidates for Mayor and 5 candidates for 3 council seats. The Mayor will likely be determined in the August 30 primary.
In Clarkdale and Jerome, there are seats up for election but candidates don’t exceed the number of seats to be filled. In fact, Jerome has 5 seats open and only 4 candidates. The LWV is not hosting forums for uncontested elections.
Yavapai Broadcasting, Verde Valley TV, will be video taping the “Forum Day” on July 16 and the Cottonwood and Camp Verde candidate forums for viewing on YouTube, CableOne and Suddenlink. The Sedona candidate forum will be live streamed by the Sedona Chamber of Commerce.
In order to vote in the primary, eligible citizens must be registered to vote and can do so online at www.servicearizona.com. The deadline for registering to vote in the Primary election is August 1. Those designated in a party can only vote in their chosen party’s primary. Anyone who is registered as Independent is allowed to cast a ballot in the primary for one of the officially recognized political parties. Information about elections is available at www.azsos.gov/elections.
For more information about the forums contact the League of Women Voters Greater Verde Valley at lwvgvv@gmail.com or on Facebook @lwvgvv or on our website www.lwvverdevalley.com
