Hear from local candidates: Coalition hosts interviews for April 4 election

Claudette Riley, Springfield News-Leader
·2 min read

An 11-member nonpartisan coalition worked together so Springfield voters can hear directly from local candidates — in their own words — prior to the April 4 election.

Volunteers with the Informed Voter Coalition, including the Springfield News-Leader, collaborated to help voters learn about the candidates on their ballot.

Starting March 21, right after spring break, candidates will share their ideas and goals in brief conversations to air on KSMU Ozarks Public Radio (91.1 FM).

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After they air, video versions of the conversations produced by the News-Leader will be available at News-Leader.com and on the websites of other coalition members.

The coalition selected five contested races to cover, which will air at noon on the following days:

March 21 – Springfield Board of Education

March 22 – Springfield City Council, General Seat C

Springfield City Council, General Seat D

March 23 – Springfield Mayor

Springfield City Council, Zone 3

The following candidates participated in the interviews:

  • Board of Education − Landon McCarter, Shurita Thomas-Tate, Judy Brunner, Chad Rollins

  • Mayor − Ken McClure, Melanie Bach

  • City Council, Zone 3 − Brandon Jenson, David Nokes

  • City Council, General Seat C − Callie Carroll, Jeremy Dean

  • City Council, General Seat D − Derek Lee, Bruce K. Adib-Yazdi

More:Absentee voting for April municipal election begins February 21

Launched in 2019, the Informed Voter Coalition has a goal of educating voters and engaging candidates with citizens. All organizations are nonpartisan. Members are:

• Be Civil Be Heard• Drury University’s L.E. Meador Center for Politics & Citizenship• Junior League of Springfield• KSMU Ozarks Public Radio• Leadership Springfield Alumni• League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri• Missouri State University’s Office of Public Affairs• NAACP Springfield• Ozarks Technical Community College’s Social Sciences Department• Springfield-Greene County Library District• Springfield News-Leader

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Nonpartisan coalition to air conversations with April 4 candidates