EDITORIAL: Hear from candidates on forum livestream
Jan. 27—Make sure to tune in and hear from candidates running for McAlester city council seats in our forum.
The News-Capital will livestream a forum with candidates running in the Feb. 8 primary elections for McAlester council seats in Wards 2 and 4.
It's important for us to use our power to vote in determine who will represent us in local government.
Anyone who says "I didn't know about the election" or "I don't know about any of the candidates" — take a look at our print and online coverage in the past month leading up to the Feb. 8 election.
We will continue that coverage up to election day to make sure voters will be able to make an informed decision when going to the ballot.
That coverage continues with our Friday forum.
The forum livestream will start at 5:30 p.m. Friday. Anyone can watch it on our Facebook page as it's happening or watch it again any time after the event.
Each of the four candidates running for the seats in Wards 2 and 4 were invited to attend. The event is closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Voters elected Randy Roden as the Ward 4 Councilor in September 2021 to fill an unexpired term left vacant after longtime councilor and educator James Brown died in February while being treated for COVID-19. Roden filed for reelection and faces former McAlester Mayor Kevin Priddle in the upcoming election.
Justin Few and Myles Lear Jett all filed to run as candidates for the Ward 2 McAlester City Council seat.
Each candidate gets two minutes for an opening statement, two minutes for a closing statement, and one minute apiece to answer questions from McAlester News-Capital employees.
All candidates will be asked questions regarding important topics in the city and get one minute to answer.
Candidates do not run as a member of any political party in McAlester's non-partisan city elections. If a race with more than two candidates running in the February primaries does not have a candidate receiving more than 50% of the vote, the two candidates with the most votes advance to the April 5 general election.
So if you're not familiar with a candidate or want to know a little more, tune in on Friday — and make sure to go vote.
—McAlester News-Capital Editorial Board
