The last of three candidate forums went off with mostly one sided pitches from Republicans due to a Champaign County Democratic Party boycott of the News-Gazette hosting the forum. The editorial cartoon they chose to publish was interpreted as disparaging the me too movement and many of the basic principles espoused by activists in it. The cartoonist weighed in on the controversy he caused here. The CEO of the company that owns the paper tried to put a positive spin on the situation here. And there were plenty of angry letters to the editor explaining why people believed the message sent was harmful to victims, sending the wrong message to children, or variously insulting and demeaning.
Dems' absence turns final candidate forum into series of monologuesFull article here with more details and background. The video of the statements and the District 4 forum will be here at the CGTV website when it's available.
An overview of what remained of the forum was described in today's paper:
Seven debates among candidates for the Champaign County Board were scheduled for Friday, but only one happened after local Democrats didn't show up.
The Champaign County Democrats urged their candidates to boycott the event after one of the sponsors, The News-Gazette, published a controversial editorial cartoon about the #MeToo movement.
The election forum, also sponsored by the League of Women Voters and NAACP of Champaign County, went on without any of the tension that preceded the event.
Instead of audience-submitted questions about the issues facing the Champaign County Board, the Republican candidates were given five minutes to introduce themselves.
"Our policy is that if we have a forum planned, and there is only one candidate remaining, that candidate will have an opportunity to make a five-minute statement about their policies and qualifications," said Holly Wilper, the forum's moderator.
The only race where two candidates showed up was for a seat representing District 4, which covers part of south Champaign and the southwestern part of the county.
The incumbent Republican, Jim McGuire, faced off against independent Cathy Emanuel, with McGuire touting his experience on the board and Emanuel her independence.
Other Local Forum Links:
- 9/14/2018 Auditor/Sheriff/Clerk Local Candidate Forum
- 9/21/2018 Circuit Judges / County Executive Second Local Candidate Forum
- 10/5/2018 County Board Q & A Forum: County Board Candidate Split Forum
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