Big Win for CD4 Candidate Q&A
The second in a planned series of events designed to acquaint the residents of Colorado’s Congressional District 4 with the 2018 field of Democratic candidates met with great success on November 18th in Sterling, CO. It was the much-anticipated Candidates’ Q&A Forum for the US House of Representatives. Three of the four candidates in the Democratic primary process were on hand to answer questions on the hottest and most significant issues in the race. The candidates present were Dr. Chase Kohne, Dr. Karen McCormick, and attorney Richard L. Weil. A fourth announced candidate, Larry Germanson, was unable to attend.
Held in the Two Roses dance hall and recreation center in Sterling, the event drew a capacity crowd of not only Logan County residents, but guests coming in from every point of the compass, including Yuma, Limon, Longmont, and Denver. The series was masterminded by super-organizers April Bowen and Nancy O’Dell. Upcoming events include the Attorneys General Q&A Forum, to be held at noon on December 9 in the Yuma Ambulance Building in Yuma, and the Gubernatorial Q&A Forum to be held at 11am on January 20, 2018 at the Akron High School Gymnasium in Akron. April and Nancy are pulling off this wide-ranging feat of organizing by delegating the hosting and much of the local logistics to teams in each host county, while handling the candidate recruiting and scheduling on their own.
The County Democratic Organizations are stepping up in grand fashion. Contributors to the success of Logan County’s forum included Janet and Tony Engelhaupt, Dora Yost, Janet Zimmerman, Pete Youngers, Jeanne Youngers, Jan Dermer, Riste Capps, Rachel Schwayder, and Peg Bell. WTF also congratulates all the organizers on the probing, well-researched list of candidate questions they assembled. We can hardly wait to see Ken Buck try to answer them, sometime next year!
WTFers Craig Stevens, Rich Marsh, Marcia Martin, and Chiu-Ki Chan were on hand. Craig live-streamed the event on the WTFColorado Facebook Page. Craig has also posted versions of the event (Part 1, Part 2) which have been edited for brevity. Marcia and Chiu-Ki collected photos and reporting for this article. Rich provided technical help for Craig, and gave a short talk on Win The Fourth Colorado’s new status as a Super-PAC.
Besides providing a chance to hear the candidates’ positions and assess their ability at thinking on their feet, the gathering at Two Roses was a delightful social event. Amusing door prizes, an excellent buffet and live music by the local duet Uncle Joe’s Skidmarks (Steve Parrish and Kevin Cole) added to the festive atmosphere.
Mark your calendars! Everyone who can should turn out to support our Democratic organizers’ efforts and hear the candidates for Attorney General in Yuma on December 9. A large contingent from Yuma Indivisible were present for the Sterling Event. If they decide to try to top the Sterling team’s efforts, watch out!
And for those who can’t get to Yuma in person, WTF will be there, recording, snapping, and live-streaming if possible. See you there!
