The first in a series of Newtown Bee “Friday Forums” debuted at noon on September 11, bringing local voters a new and virtual way to get to know candidates who are hoping to serve them in the state General Assembly for the next two years or longer.

The forum on September 25 will feature incumbent 106th District GOP Rep Mitch Bolinsky and his returning Democratic challenger Rebekah Harriman-Stites.

Captured on Zoom and webcast live on The Newtown Bee’s Facebook site, these one-on-one candidate interactions provide an alternative to the live forum the newspaper typically hosts at Edmond Town Hall in late October.

All archived Friday Forums, which are hosted by Editor Nancy Crevier, can be streamed from The Newtown Bee’s YouTube channel, or under the Videos tab on The Newtown Bee’s Facebook site.

“We had the privilege of sharing insights from first Representative Raghib Allie-Brennan and his challenger for the 2nd District, Dan Carter, on our first Friday Forum and equally valuable insights from Senator Tony Hwang and 28th District challenger Michelle McCabe on September 18,” Crevier said.

View the opening Friday Forums segment here:

“We are pleased to have an online venue for our forums this election season. We believe providing voters with a chance to hear from the candidates running for office, in addition to reading about their positions in The Newtown Bee, is one of the most important services the paper provides the community,” she added.

“We hope that viewers find our Friday Forum programs informative and will tune in again to our Facebook page at noon that day. Please send questions you might have for these two candidates to editor@thebee.com by Thursday, September 24,” Crevier added. “Candidates will weigh in on questions we select from the submissions.”

Because local voters will be able to start casting absentee ballots on October 2, organizers plan to wrap up the noon-hour webcast series on that same date with 112th District incumbent Republican Rep JP Sredzinski.

Allie-Brennan And Carter Forum

On September 11, Allie-Brennan and Carter opened the forum by talking about some of the most pressing state issues they have been told are concerning Newtown constituents.

“Obviously, I think the issues come down to bread and butter,” Allie-Brennan said. “Working to protect small businesses and increase state support is what I hear when I’m talking with families in Newtown. Keeping our area affordable and bringing back as much as we can — I know that is something a lot of our families have been looking for, and now we’re getting.”

“It’s about being able to afford to live in this state,” Carter said. “Also local control of schools and zoning is an issue. We’ve seen for over a decade now how we’ve had high tax increases, nickle and [diming]. What we need to do is get ahold of the amount of taxes, and not focus on the revenue side of the equation, but keep focusing on the spending side of the equation.”

Each guest related advice they may have offered to Governor Ned Lamont about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic to date; their positions on recent police accountability legislation passed in special session; and how they plan to address inequalities raised by recent social and racial justice movements.

Carter and Allie-Brennan also laid out their positions on mandatory vaccinations for public school students; raising state revenues without necessarily raising taxes; and how they would work to help support Newtown nonprofits facing unprecedented challenges in the COVID era.

Watch all the Friday Forums by tuning in to youtube.com/user/thenewtownbee.