Candidate forums planned by Harwood 7th graders, Valley Reporter and MRV Chamber
October 9, 2024 | By Lisa Scagliotti Local voters interested in hearing from legislative candidates ahead of the Nov. 5 General Election have two opportunities next week.
On Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m., the Valley Reporter and Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce will host a candidate forum for the four candidates running to represent the Washington-2 district in the Vermont House of Representatives. That’s the district covering Duxbury and the Mad River Valley towns of Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield and Warren.
On Thursday, Oct. 17, a group of Harwood Middle School 7th graders will host the Washington-2 candidates along with those running to represent the Washington-Chittenden House district that includes Waterbury, and the contenders for the three Washington state Senate seats.
Oct. 15: Washington-2 House Candidates Forum
The Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce and The Valley Reporter forum for the Washington-2 House district candidates will be held on the second floor of Valley Meade in Waitsfield from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 15.
Chamber Executive Director Eric Friedman and Valley Reporter Editor Lisa Loomis will moderate.
The four candidates are Independent John Burns from Moretown; incumbent Rep. Dara Torre, a Moretown Democrat; Candice White, a Waitsfield Democrat; and Independent Gene Bifano of Warren running under the “Common Sense” label.
The format will give candidates a chance to make opening statements, after which the moderators will present prepared questions. Candidates have been asked to submit questions to be asked of the group and questions also will be taken from the audience.
Community members may suggest questions for the candidates by emailing them to
Mad River Valley Television will cover the forum and the recording will be posted MRVTV.com afterward.
Oct. 17: School students take the lead
So far, the Harwood candidate event is the only forum scheduled to possibly include the four candidates seeking to represent Waterbury’s district in the Vermont House. The district covers Waterbury, Bolton, Huntington and Buel’s Gore.
The public is invited to the Harwood Union Middle/High School auditorium for the Oct. 17 event from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
So far nearly all of the candidates in the state Senate and two House races have confirmed they will attend, according to teachers Sarah Ibson and Meredith Vaughn. As of Tuesday, Oct. 8, the class still was hoping to confirm Doyle in the Senate candidate group and Tom Stevens and James Haddad in the Washington-Chittenden group.
The teachers said students have been researching issues to come up with questions. The program will devote 30 minutes to each race, the teachers said.
The schedule will begin with the Senate candidates: Incumbent Sens. Ann Cummings, Andrew Perchlik and Anne Watson, and Republican challengers Donald Koch, Michael Deering and Michael Doyle.
The second panel will be the Washington-2 candidates who also are participating in the Tuesday forum: Torre, White, Burns and Bifano.
The Washington-Chittenden candidates will make up the third panel: Reps. Theresa Wood and Stevens, both Waterbury Democrats; and first-time challengers Jonathan Griffin, a Waterbury Republican, and Independent James Haddad from Huntington.
Admission to the event is free. Should this event be recorded, this post will be updated with a website link.
Recorded Oct. 4: Early Childhood Candidates Forum
On Friday, Oct. 4, the Building Bright Futures Council held a Central Vermont Early Childhood Candidates Forum at the Old Labor Hall in Barre.
The forum included 12 Washington County Senate and House district candidates on the Nov. 5 ballot including three of the four Waterbury candidates running in the Washington-Chittenden House district – Democratic Reps. Stevens and Wood, and Republican Jonathan Griffin.
Other House candidates participating were: Northfield Republican Rep. Anne Donahue and Northfield Democrat Lucas Herring, both running for seats in the Washington-1 House district; Rep. Conor Casey, D/P-Montpelier, running in Washington-4; Rep. Jonathan Williams, D-Barre City, and Edward “Teddy” Waszazak, also a Barre City Democrat, both running in Washington-3; Rep. Saudia LaMont, D-Morristown, running in the Lamoille-Washington district.
Senate candidates at the event were incumbents Ann Cummings, D-Montpelier, Andrew Perchlik, D/P-Marshfield, and Republican Donald Koch of Barre Town.
Topics discussed focused on early childhood and issues of interest to families with young children including child and family mental health and well-being, the implementation of Vermont’s newest early childhood legislation Act 76, housing and flood resilience.
Building Bright Futures is Vermont’s state advisory council that advises the governor and state legislature on issues regarding the well-being of children and families in Vermont.
The event was recorded by Central Vermont Television. Watch the video here.