This November is Election 2018, and the local legislative campaigns will impact Wilton just as much as national ones. To help Wilton residents be as informed and prepared as possible to head into voting booths and cast their votes, GOOD Morning Wilton is teaming up with the Wilton League of Women Voters (LWV) and the Wilton Library to co-sponsor a CT State Legislative Candidate Forum for the State Senate District 26, and the State House Districts 125 and 143.

The forum will bring together on one stage the candidates in each of the races for those districts:  candidates for Senate District 26–Toni Boucher (R) and Will Haskell (D); candidates for House District 125–Tom O’Dea (R) and Ross Tartell (D); and candidates for House District 143–Gail Lavielle (R) and Stephanie Thomas (D). All six candidates have confirmed that they plan to attend and participate in the forum.

The forum is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018, from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Brubeck Room of the Wilton Library (137 Old Ridgefield Rd.). There is limited seating available for people to attend the event live; to preregister, visit the Wilton Library website or call 203.762.6334. Walk-ins will be accepted as space allows. The event is free and open to the public.

GOOD Morning Wilton has arranged to livestream the forum online. It can be viewed live in real time via the link at www.livecloudtv.com/2018WiltonCTElectionForum. The event also will be recorded for re-broadcast on GOODMorningWilton.com and government access as available.

The candidates will engage in a modified, town hall-style format. The format allows all candidates equal time to introduce themselves, answer all questions posed by the moderator, and highlight their goals for serving the community. Candidates will be held to strict time limits for each answer and opportunity to speak.

Audience members at the event will be able to submit written questions; in addition the WLWV will accept questions for the candidates ahead of the forum via email at wiltonlwvcandidateforum@gmail.com, from now until midnight on Saturday, Oct. 13. (All questions will be screened for legibility, duplication, and may be combined or condensed.)

The LWV has set some important guidelines for submitting questions via email:

  • Anonymous emails will not be accepted. Sender must include his or her name.
  • Only one question can be submitted per email.
  • All questions should be applicable to all candidates and pertinent to state issues. Questions targeted at one specific candidate–for example, “Candidate Jane Doe, why did you vote for/against xyz?”–will not be accepted.

Jean Rabinow, a member of the Steering Committee of the League of Women Voters of the Bridgeport Area, and Director/Outreach for the League of Women Voters of Connecticut, will moderate the evening’s event.

In addition to the event co-sponsors–Wilton League of Women Voters, Wilton Library and GOOD Morning Wilton–other partners in the event include the Norwalk League of Women Voters and student partners from the Wilton High School Model Congress.