Candidate forum set Monday at Ridge at Laurens

Laurens, S.C.  – Candidates in the upcoming City of Laurens election will have an opportunity to share their platforms in a public candidate forum set for  6:30 p.m. Monday evening, Feb. 13, at The Ridge at Laurens, 301 Exchange Dr., Laurens.
“We have not done this before but we felt it was necessary to hold a forum before early voting begins,” said Elma Morrison, an officer with the Sanders Alumni Association, the lead sponsor of the event. “People go to the polls and have no idea what the candidates’ platforms are, and we wanted to give the people of Laurens a chance to learn more about their candidates.”
Every City of Laurens candidate is planning to attend the candidate forum, Morrison said, and it will be moderated by WLBG’s Emil Finley and Randy Stevens.
“We would like people to bring their questions already clearly written ahead of time,” she said, “and there will also be a time set aside for questions from the audience.”
Candidates on the City of Laurens ballot include the following:
Mayor: Mayor Nathan Senn is facing Randy Garrett and District 2 City Council member Alicia Latrina Sullivan.
City Council incumbents Cassandra Campbell, Seat 3, and Martin Lowry, Seat 5, have no opposition.
Seat 6 incumbent Johnnie Bolt will face candidate Jeremy Hudson.
The Laurens Commission of Public Works ballot will include District 1 incumbent Tomika Craig and District 2 incumbent Jeff Thompson, but neither is opposed.
Early voting begins Feb. 20 and runs through March 3. The polls open on election day across the City of Laurens at 7 a.m. Tuesday, March 7.
In addition to Sanders Alumni Association, which has organized the event, other sponsors have come on board to help spread the word about the event, including The Laurens County Ministerial Alliance, Presbyterian College’s former Political Science Professor Booker T. Ingram, leaders of Poplar Spring AME Church and various other sponsors.
In Clinton, the PC Political Science Department is organizing a forum closer to the election for the City of Clinton candidates.

This story originally ran Page 1 of the Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023 issue of The Laurens County Advertiser.