League of Women Voters set live, online candidate forums

Lieutenant governor forum slated for today

A forum of candidates for lieutenant governor will be on Zoom and televised on TVW at 5:30 p.m. today.

The forum is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Washington and The Spokesman-Review newspaper of Spokane, and the League of Women Voters of Tacoma-Pierce County are hosting the forum, which will be live-streamed and later televised on TVW at tvw.org.

Among other duties, the lieutenant governor serves as president of the state Senate and fills in as acting governor whenever the governor is unable to serve or leaves the state.

The current lieutenant governor is Cyrus Habib, a Democrat who began his term in January 2017. Habib is not seeking reelection. He is quitting politics to become a Jesuit priest.

Eleven people have filed to run for the seat. The primary election to determine which two candidates will advance to the general election is Aug. 4.

A Zoom forum for Secretary of State, co-sponsored by Spokane’s League of Women Voters groups, will air at 7 p.m. July 16 on KSPS, Spokane’s public television station (ksps.org).

Debates for candidates vying for governor, attorney general, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and state treasurer are expected in the fall.

The Clallam County League of Women Voters will work with TVW and other local government television stations to produce and distribute the recordings of these Zoom meeting forums.

The Clallam County league will host a series of online candidate forums in coming weeks. All are set for 6 p.m.

On July 16, the league will host a live forum for Clallam County Public Utility District 2. Access the forum at tinyurl.com/y8uc7pxe.

On the ballot are four candidates: Neil Knutson, Marty Michaelis, Patti Morris and Rick Paschall. As of Wednesday, Morris and Paschall had confirmed their participation.

On July 23, the league will host a live forum for Legislative District 24, Position 1. Access the forum at tinyurl.com/ycq353zt.

Candidates include incumbent Mike Chapman, a Port Anbgeles Democrat; Sue Forde, a Sequim Republican; and Daniel Charles Svoboda, a Port Hadlock Republican.

As of Wednesday, Chapman and Svoboda had confirmed their participation.

On July 30, the league will host a live forum for Legislative District 24, Position 2. Access the forum at tinyurl.com/y8mapxcj.

Candidates include incumbent Steve Tharinger, a Port Townsend Democrat; Darren Corcoran, an Elma Democrat; Brian Pruiett, a Carlsborg Republican; and Jodi Wilke, a Port Townsend Republican.

As of Wednesday, Tharinger and Wilke had confirmed their participation.

In addition, a candidate forum for the 6th Congressional District was slated to be recorded July 7, 8 or 9 and be made available online.

Candidates for the position include incumbent Derek Kilmer, a Gig Harbor Democrat; and fellow Democrat Rebecca Parson of Tacoma, as well as these Republicans: Johny Alberg of Olalla, Stephan Brodhead of Tacoma, Elizabeth Kreiselmaier of Gig Harbor, and Chris Welton of Bremerton.

Visit my.lwv.org/washington/clallam-county/upcoming-candidate-forums for more information and updates.

The Jefferson County League of Women Voters conducted an online and broadcast forum on June 23 and plans more forums in the future.