Candidates and community forum in Virginia City
Questions posed before votes cast in countywide debate
The Virginia City Community Center earned its name hosting over a hundred residents for the 2022 Candidates Forum. Hosted by The Madisonian and the Rotary Club of the Ruby Valley, the event turned out every candidate to debate the issues. Questions were submitted by community members and each race – four plus one uncontested – took time to answer each question.
Subjects varied per debate, but the themes were consistent. How will the changing landscape of the county be handled? How will you represent us and our way of life? And why should we vote for you? Each candidate appeared to bring transparency and optimism to their answers and made their merits clear.
The structure, and participation, allowed attendees the opportunity to get to know each candidate and pose subjects important to their decision making. In-person interaction provides voters a sense of their candidate that cannot otherwise be obtained. It also provides candidates the chance to represent themselves genuinely, but more importantly, it provides them the ability to see and feel who their constituents are and what is important to them. Polls and statistics cannot convey what debates and face to face conversations can accomplish.
On behalf of the Rotary Club and all of us at The Madisonian, thank you to the candidates for participating and allowing voters the opportunity to have their issues addressed. Thank you also to the residents for such a wonderful turnout and participating in such an important part of being informed about the county’s potential representatives and the issues at hand. Our community was inquisitive and attentive for the entire three hour event, still there was not time for every question. If you’d like to know more from any of the candidates please don’t hesitate to contact them directly.
Thank you to everyone for your support and making Montana proud.