James River House of Delegates Candidates’ Forum--Capstone Project

On Thursday, October 12, McClain Moran, a senior in the Leadership and International Relations Center, hosted the first candidates’ forum for the local leaders campaigning to represent Chesterfield County in the House of Delegates at James River. The forum featured six candidates, five Democrats and one Green Party representative, from six different districts. All candidates who represented precincts in Chesterfield County were invited, which measured to fifteen. Each of the candidates had completely different backgrounds, platforms specific to their district, and distinct reasons for their campaign, which created political diversity.

Dr. Bob Holsworth, an esteemed radio and televised political commentator served as the moderator. Outside of the forum, any attendee could register to vote or speak directly with the campaigns that they heard from. With elections for the Virginia House of Delegates up every two years and voter turnout being statistically low, political participation and engagement is vital to the well being and representation of the Commonwealth of Virginia. This gave the audience a chance to hear about the background of their candidates and see them as a person instead of someone only in campaign literature or on social media, creating a connection between the candidate and community.