North Central Michigan College to host State Senate and House candidate forums Sept. 26
PETOSKEY — To help voters in Emmet and Charlevoix counties learn more about their potential state candidates prior to the Nov. 8 election, the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Charlevoix Area Chamber of Commerce have partnered with North Central Michigan College to host a candidate forum.
The forum and meet and greet event will be from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 26 in the Iron Horse Café at North Central Michigan College in Petoskey. The meet and greet will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the forum will begin at 6:30 p.m. The event is open to the public and there is no cost to attend and will be live streamed for those who cannot attend in person.
Organizers say they have invited candidates for the 37th State Senate race, the 107th State House race, Emmet County Commission and Charlevoix County Commission races. Candidates for county commission races will be participating in the meet and greet only, while the other candidates will also participate in a moderated forum.
Nikki Devitt, president of the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Sarah Van Horn, president of the Charlevoix Area Chamber of Commerce, are leading the coordination efforts for the forum. They emphasize that the event is designed to be non-biased and non-partisan.
“The goal is to give people an unbiased representation of the candidates to help them with their decision-making as they prepare to cast their votes,” Devitt said. “The event will be fair and balanced, so voters can make their own choices.”
“All questions were carefully crafted to be fair to all participants,” Van Horn added. “No questions will be allowed from the audience, so if a voter has a specific question or issue they would like to discuss, they are urged to come to the informal meet and greet session and talk to the candidates directly.”
More:2022 Michigan State House - District 107 Republican Primary Results
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More:Damoose and Conley win primary races for 37th State Senate
Republican candidate John Damoose and Democratic candidate Barb Conley won their respective party's nomination for the 37th State Senate seat in the primary election on Aug. 2.
In a crowded field that included three other Republican contenders, Damoose won by 41.2 percent with a total of 18,243 votes.
Conley ran against two other candidates and won by 86.4 percent with 25,411 total votes.
The 37th State Senate area includes the northernmost parts of the Lower Peninsula and the eastern end of the Upper Peninsula, and all or parts of Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Emmet, Grand Traverse and Mackinac counties.
More:Charlevoix's Neil Friske wins primary election for 107th House seat
Charlevoix's Neil Friske won the 107th House of Representatives race in the Republican primary.
The district includes the counties of Charlevoix, Emmet and portions of Mackinac and Chippewa.
The primary election had one of the largest candidate fields in recent memory for the 107th House district, with five candidates running on the Republican ticket and one as a Democrat.
Due to the state's redistricting, the 107th House district was an open seat with no incumbent. There was one candidate who ran for the position in the Democratic primary on Aug. 2 — Jodi Decker.
The general election will be on Nov. 8.
More:Candidates vie for State Senate and House seats in local forum
More:2022 Michigan Election Results
Contact reporter Annie Doyle at (231) 675-0099 or adoyle@charlevoixcourier.com.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: NCMC to host State Senate and House candidate forums on Sept. 26
