Republican Senate candidates come to Staunton for town hall
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STAUNTON – The Republican candidates for Virginia’s Senate seat are coming to Staunton.
A town hall will be held on Friday morning at Victory Worship Center and World Outreach (victory-worship.com), 200 Hammond Lane in Staunton.
Four of the five candidates will be there – Edward C. "Eddie" Garcia Jr., Jonathan W. Emord, C. L. "Chuck" Smith, Jr., and Scott Thomas Parkinson. As of Thursday morning, Hung Cao will not be in attendance. For more on the candidates, see The News Leader’s candidate overview and follow the links to previous local coverage of individual candidates.
“This is the first time that any of us can remember a forum held in the 6th for statewide candidates,” reads a press release from Virginia’s Sixth District Republican Committee. “We would love to pack the house and establish this a requisite event for statewide candidates.”
The town hall will begin with a meet and greet at 8:15 a.m., when the doors open. Light snacks will be available. At 9 a.m., the town hall will begin, with candidates answering questions designed to highlight their differences.
“They have really not crossed each other much,” Pastor Ray Eppard told The News Leader. “It's been a fairly civil campaign amongst themselves so far. I do know the desire was to try to bring out some differences between them.”
Eppard had input on the questions but did not decide them or have final say. He could provide a sneak preview of one of the questions – what gives each a better chance of beating Tim Kaine as compared to the other Republican candidates?
The event is not hosted by Victory Worship Center, but by City Elders Virginia (cityeldersva.com). The organization has a local branch in Augusta County. Its mission statement is to “Govern the gates of the cities of America spiritually, politically and economically so that life is protected, liberty is defended, Christ is exalted, and marriage and families may flourish.”
Lyra Bordelon (she/her) is the public transparency and justice reporter at The News Leader. Do you have a story tip or feedback? It’s welcome through email to lbordelon@gannett.com. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Republican Senate candidates come to Staunton for town hall at Victory Worship Center
