With less than a month until the Nov. 3 general election, candidates running for public office will field questions at an “A Night with the Candidates” forum Tuesday at San Joaquin Delta College.
The forum will be held 6 to 8 p.m. in the college’s Dawn Mabalon Forum. It is free and open to the public, with campus parking fees waived. Attendees do not need to register or RSVP.
Candidates expected to attend include Fiona Ma, a Democrat running for California lieutenant governor; John McBride, a Republican running for California’s 9th Congressional District; Matthew Adams, a Democrat running for California State Assembly District 9; Rhodesia Ransom, a Democrat running for California State Assembly District 13; and Tom Patti, a Republican running for California State Assembly District 13.
Candidates for Stockton City Council Districts 1, 3 and 5 were invited to participate but declined. Ma’s opponent for California lieutenant governor, Gloria Romero, did not respond to an invitation to the forum. Heath Flora, the Republican incumbent running against Adams for California State Assembly District 9, and Josh Harder, the Democratic incumbent running against McBride for California’s 9th Congressional District, also declined invitations.
The forum will feature two panelists asking candidates questions composed by the San Joaquin County Civic Alliance and Asian Pacific American Public Affairs, the forum’s sponsors. It also will include time for audience members to ask candidates questions at the end of the panelist session.
The San Joaquin County Civic Alliance is a collaboration of community organizations dedicated to presenting candidate forums and town halls at Delta College, according to Joel Blank, a Delta College political science professor and member of the coalition.
As a nonpartisan coalition, Blank said the alliance recognizes the importance of civic education and is committed to providing opportunities for community members to learn more about local government, public issues, candidates, and elected and nonelected officials seeking to serve them.
“As a citizen, as a voter and as a political scientist, I think candidate forums, in which hopefully all the candidates participate, whether in Stockton or across the country, are essential to the electoral process — a process that is the most important political institution in a democracy,” Blank said.
The coalition includes the Associated Students of Delta College, the San Joaquin Delta College Department of Political Science, California State University, Stanislaus’ Stockton Campus, the Business Council of San Joaquin County, Stocktonia and The Stockton Record.