July 15 Candidate Forum

MidMichigan Democracy for America held our first ever candidate forum last night and by all accounts it was a huge success.  First of all, the candidates were the two Democrats who are competing to run against our incumbant Michigan 8th Congressional District Congressman Mike Rogers.  Their names are Bob Alexander who is an experienced activist with involvement in many political campaigns, and Matt Ferguson, who is a journalist from public radio who has left his job to run for Congress.   Our moderator was well-know Detroit Free Press political journalist, Chris Christoff.  We had a lot of help by members of MMDFA during the forum that helped make it run smoothly.  So that credit is given where due : timer was Evan Hope, video taping was Rob Buttery, introduction was by Suellen Hozman,  parking help was Georg Schuttler, photographs were taken by Barb Lewis, and hosting and general trouble shooting was done by Cathy Allen and myself.  We had a good turnout for a beautiful July evening, approximately 120 folks and three of the local television studios (Fox 47, WILX NBC, and WLNS CBS) as well as the Lansing City Pulse and the State News (Michigan State University student newspaper) were there to cover the event.  The questioning was sharp and the moderator was great at using follow-up questions to draw the candidates' responses out.  The candidates gave out a lot of campaign literature, signs, etc afterwards.  All in all, it was highly successful.
Keep an eye out on local public access television to see event on tape.