Seattle Association of Black Journalists to Hold Candidate Forum

by Nimra Ahmad

On Saturday, Oct. 5, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Rainier Arts Center, the Seattle Association of Black Journalists (SABJ) will host an election forum for Black voters to hear directly from the state’s gubernatorial and attorney general candidates.

Unlike a traditional debate, the candidates won’t be speaking with one another. Instead, each will be given some time to discuss their platforms and take questions from the audience. Local political strategists at the event will also offer analyses of each of the candidates’ policies and stands.

“We feel like the community, especially Communities of Color, and there’s kind of an emphasis on the Black community, of course, really need to have opportunities to make connections with the candidates that go beyond just watching them on television or on the internet,” said Kevin Henry, event coordinator for SABJ and the moderator of the election forum. “And the candidates need to also hear … from the community as well.”

Each of the candidates will have 10 minutes to answer questions from the audience, and Henry said one of the topics that he expects the audience will ask about is public safety. Both Bob Ferguson and Dave Reichert have made crime and safety major parts of their platforms, and attorney general candidates Nick Brown and Pete Serrano have also emphasized them in their campaigns.

“With concern about crime and concern about lack of numbers when it comes to law enforcement and things like that, public safety is also an issue that might mean different things to different people,” Henry said. “Certain people in the community might think public safety is all about getting more police officers and building more jails or having stiffer sentences, whereas someone else might look at public safety as being a combination of what I just mentioned, but also having, for instance, more mental health counselors available to interact with the public in certain situations.”

Henry hopes the event will help the audience become more informed about each of the candidate’s platforms without the distractions and “theatrics” of debates, and that it encourages people to go out and vote.

The event is free to the public, and people can register to attend online.

Nimra Ahmad is a news writer for the South Seattle Emerald. She has bylines in Crosscut, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Oglethorpe Echo, and The Red & Black. You can find her on Twitter at @nimra_ahmad22 or email her at Nimra.Ahmad@SeattleEmerald.org.