Chadrad Communications hosts its primary election candidates forum tonight night at 6:30 in the Chadron City Hall Council Chambers..
All five Chadron City Council candidates were scheduled to take part, but one of them has decided to drop out of the race – although his name will still be on the ballot next month.
Thomas Rutledge says after talking with his family, he realized he wouldn’t have time to do justice to both the city and his family if he were elected to the city council.
Although he’s no longer running, Rutledge’s name remains on the ballot because ballots have already been printed. If he were to be one of the top 4 vote getters on May 14, there would be only 3 candidates in the general election.
The other 4 candidates – Kevin Oleksy, Loren “Bat” Pourier, Jessy Roberts, and Clay Andersen – are scheduled to participate tonight.
So is Dawes County Commissioner District 3 Republican hopeful Walter Juhlin, but Julin’s opponent, Dave Redden, is unable to attend due to prior commitments.
There is a third candidate for county commissioner, Tony Johnson, but he is a Libertarian and automatically advances to the general election. Since he’s not on the primary ballot, Johnson won’t take part in tonight’s forum.
The forum is open to the public and will be broadcast on the city’s public access channel on Great Plains Cable channel 19.
Each candidate will give opening and closing statements. The forum will be moderated by former Chadron Record editor and current Dawes and Sioux County Tourism Director Kerri Rempp.
Questions for the candidates can be submitted to Chadrad Communications ahead of time at jeremy@chadrad.com. The public will also have opportunities to submit questions this evening.