20th Anniversary AAUW Candidate Forum
Tuesday, October 22, 7 to 9 pm
Firehouse
130 River Street, Bennington
Come Meet the Candidates!
by Julie Mackaman
The country’s noisy and hotly contested presidential campaign season is heading into the general election homestretch on November 5. AAUW offers voters in the town and county of Bennington a more intimate, and likely more civil, chance to meet and learn the positions of local candidates vying for State Representatives and State Senators in our 20th Anniversary Candidate Forum.
The AAUW Candidate Forum was inaugurated in 2004, with attorney Paula McCann as our first moderator. Across 20 years, this biennial community assembly has become a highly regarded event on the campaign calendar, popular with in-person and CAT-TV and GNAT television audiences, and a signature program of our branch.
The invited guests for the October 22 Candidate Forum include all of the candidates, regardless of party affiliation or non-affiliation, who were elected in the August 13 primary to run in November for State Representative in the BEN-2 (map here) and BEN-5 (map here) districts, and for State Senator representing Bennington County (map here):
State Representative (BEN 2)
Vote for 2
Anthony A. Cook (R)
*Timothy R. Corcoran II (D)
William (“Will”) Greer (D)
State Representative (BEN 5)
Vote for 2
*Jim Carroll (D)
*Mary A. Morrissey (R)
Michael Nigro (D)
State Senator (Bennington County)
Vote for 2
Steve Berry (I)
Seth Bongartz (D)
Cynthia Browning (I)
Joseph “Joe” Gervais (R)
Rob Plunkett (D)
Lawrence “Spike” Whitmire (I)
*Incumbent
Kathy Wagenknecht, a past president, returns to the moderator’s seat this year. She will pose several questions formulated by a planning committee and, if time allows, open up the forum to audience questions. A reception follows the forum at 9 pm for a chance to talk with the candidates and pick up campaign material to take home.
“The forum is necessarily limited by the extensive invitation list of 12 candidates and the two-hour time limit we’ve had to place on the evening,” says branch president Suzanne Kirkpatrick. “But we’re confident that Bennington voters will come away with a deeper knowledge of the candidates and their stand on issues that affect our town and county.”
Two Recent Changes
Following the last U.S. Census, Bennington’s legislative districts were reapportioned in 2022. As a result, Bennington voters in the BEN-5 district are joined by half of neighboring Pownal voters, leaving the other half of Pownal voters in BEN-1 (map here), along with Readsboro, Searsburg, Stamford, and Woodford.
No incumbent is running for State Senator. Senator Brian Campion announced in May 2024 that he would not run for reelection after 14 years in the state legislature, first as a State Representative and then as a State Senator; and Senator Dick Sears died on June 1, 2024, after having being elected to the Senate in 1992 and reelected every year until his last election in 2020.
National AAUW reminds us that “The choices we make at the ballot box can open doors for generations of women to come.” Bring a friend to the Candidate Forum, offer a neighbor a ride, think of a question you’d like to ask a candidate. Persuade your grandchildren to vote, as voting once is the best predictor of lifelong voting. And whether you mail in your ballot early, drop it off at Town Hall, or step into a voting booth on November 5, whatever you do: don’t sit this election out.
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