Holly Springs will have a candidate forum at 7 p.m. tonight at the Town Hall, 128 S. Main St.

CARY, NC – Candidates for Cary Town Council will meet today in a forum filled with questions submitted by voters during the Lazy Daze festival.

The forum begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Cary Town Council Chambers, and will include candidates for one At-Large seat and districts A and C.  Wake County School Board seats that represent Cary will also be included:  districts 2, 7 and 9.

More About the Forum

The forum will be recorded and played throughout Western Wake County daily on the Town’s government access channel-Cary TV 11-and available on the Town’s web site September 18 until Election Day.

Residents also submitted questions via YouTube for consideration.  Sponsored by the Town of Cary and featuring only questions submitted by Cary citizens, this year’s forum is being managed on behalf of the Town by the NC Center for Voter Education (NCCVE).

The Town of Cary is paying the NCCVE $2,500 to serve as this year’s forum manager.

Citizens and members of the press are invited to attend forums for candidates running for the Raleigh City Council and the Cary Town Council.

Candidates will be asked questions on local issues, including growth, water supply and quality, transit, housing, infrastructure funding and more.

Candidates will be permitted to make opening and closing statements. Local citizen organizations, WakeUP Wake County and the League of Women Voters of Wake County, and the Raleigh Downtowner publication are co-sponsoring the Raleigh City Council forum on September 10, 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

WakeUP Wake County and the Raleigh Downtowner are co-sponsoring the Cary Town Council forum on September 23, 6:30 – 8:30 pm. None of these organizations endorse political candidates. The events are free and open to the public.

Complete details:

Raleigh City Council Candidate Forum
Thursday, September 10, 2009
6:30 – 8:30 pm
Doors open at 6:15
Temple Beth Or, 5315 Creedmoor Rd, Raleigh

Cosponsored by the League of Women Voters of Wake County and the Raleigh Downtowner
Light Refreshments
Free and Open to the Public

Cary Town Council Candidate Forum
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
7:00 – 8:30 pm
Doors open at 6:30
Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church, 200 High Meadow Dr, Cary
Cosponsored by the Raleigh Downtowner
Light Refreshments
Free and Open to the Public

Raleigh Public record sat down with the Raleigh candidates for this year’s election and asked them the same questions. Check it out.

WAKE FOREST, N.C. — The Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting candidate forums for School Board and Town Board candidates.

The forum for School Board candidates will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m., and the forum for Town Board candidates will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. Both forums will take place at Wake Forest Town Hall.

All candidates will be asked the same questions and have an opportunity to respond. Each candidate will also be given the opportunity to make concluding remarks.

Board of Education elections will be held on Oct. 6, and Town Board elections will be held on Nov. 3.

The forums are open to the general public to attend, and the Chamber is working with the Town of Wake Forest to broadcast the forums live on Cable Channel 10. In addition, the forums will be rebroadcast before the election. For more information please contact the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce at 919-556-1519.

CARY, N.C. – Make plans now to play an active role in the 2009 Cary Community Candidate Forum, the first and only forum for candidates for local office sponsored by a Triangle local government, and the only forum for local offices to be cablecast on Cary TV 11.

New this year, citizens will be able to post video submissions on YouTube for consideration, as well as record questions in person at Cary’s Lazy Daze Arts and Crafts Festival on Saturday, Aug. 22.

Sponsored by the Town of Cary and featuring only questions submitted by Cary citizens, this year’s forum is being managed on behalf of the Town by the NC Center for Voter Education (NCCVE).

“The NC Center for Voter Education brought tremendous professionalism and expertise to the 2007 forum, and we appreciate their willingness to serve Cary citizens again this year,” said Town of Cary Public Information Officer Susan Moran.

The North Carolina Center for Voter Education is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to informing and involving citizens so they may fully participate in democracy. The Center has hosted and moderated a number of forums giving candidates an opportunity to debate issues in a constructive format, including a series of forums airing statewide on UNC-TV in 2006 and 2008.

The Center is a leading resource for unbiased candidate information, using its voter guides, online radio station, media partnerships and statewide syndicated column to give candidates from all political persuasions the opportunity to communicate directly with voters.

“Our research shows that the primary reason why qualified voters don’t go to the polls on Election Day is because they lack information on the candidates,” said Damon Circosta, NCCVE executive director.  “We are very pleased to take part in the Town of Cary’s effort to empower its citizens with the facts they need to cast a confident ballot.”

This year’s forum, which will be held on Sept. 15 in the Cary Town Council Chambers, will include candidates for one At-Large seat and districts A and C.  Wake County School Board seats that represent Cary will also be included:  districts 2, 7 and 9.  The forum will be recorded and played throughout Western Wake County daily on the Town’s government access channel—Cary TV 11—and available on the Town’s web site Sept. 18 until Election Day.

Questions asked of candidates may be submitted by Cary citizens beginning July 20, 2009; questions and links to video submissions should be e-mailed to cary@ncvotered.com. The forum manager will review, select, and read the questions to candidates for the first time during the forum.  The Town of Cary is paying the NCCVE $2,500 to serve as this year’s forum manager.

The idea of the Town’s hosting a forum dates back to the fall of 2001 when a record number of candidate forums sponsored by special interest groups were cablecast on the Town’s government access channel, Cary TV 11.  Complaints about that situation led the Town Council to ask staff to develop alternatives.  After nine months of research, which included meetings with past forum sponsors, staff recommended in August of 2002 the concept of one large  “mega forum” – now known as the Cary Community Candidate Forum.  Benefits of this approach include:

• Allowing for increased community focus and involvement
• Eliminating the issue of candidate endorsements
• Providing a better product for viewers
• Reducing the amount of time candidates and Town staff spend in forums
• Reducing the amount of politics and bias potentially brought to the forums by outside sponsors

The first Cary Community Forums were held in the fall of 2003, followed by subsequent ones in 2005 and 2007.  For more, visit Cary Community Candidate Forum.

Candidate filing for the 2009 municipal elections begins today across North Carolina.

This fall, voters will select candidates for city and county boards and councils. Several area mayors are up for re-election.
Filing ends at noon July 17. All paperwork, forms and fees must be received by that date.

For more information:

Orange County Board of Elections | 919-245-2350
Johnston County Board of Elections Office | 919-989-5095.
Durham County Board of Elections | 919-560-0700
Wake County Board of Elections | 919-856-6240
Chatham County Board of Elections | 919-545-8500

Q&A:

• When may a citizen file for office?

Filing for office begins 12 noon the first Friday in July and ends 12 noon the third Friday in July. NC GS 163-294.2(e).

• What must a citizen do to file for candidacy to serve in a Municipality?

The citizen will need to complete a Notice of Candidacy form at the Johnston County Board of Elections Office at 205 South Second Street, Smithfield, one block south of the Johnston County Courthouse.

• What are the requirements for a citizen to file for a Municipality Seat?

Resident of the Municipality

Registered voter

(Each Municipality may have additional requirements for filing.  You will need to contact the town clerk for that Municipality).

• Is there a fee for filing?

Filing fees are set by each municipality.

• Do citizens need to declare a political party when filing?

Citizens do not need to declare a political party.  The Municipal Elections are conducted on a nonpartisan basis.

• How are election results determined?

Elections results are determined using the nonpartisan plurality method meaning the highest vote getter wins the seat.  NC GS 163.292.

• When does a newly elected official take the oath of office?

The oath of office is administered at the organizational meeting of each Municipality.

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen will hold a public hearing on March 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Board Room to receive citizen comments on a draft ordinance that would establish a $250 limit on campaign contributions to candidates for town elected offices.

Information on the proposed ordinance may be obtained from the Town Clerk’s office (918-7309, E-Mail: swilliamson@townofcarrboro.org) located in the Carrboro Town Hall. Citizens are invited to comment.

The Meetings, Events & Activities Calendar is available at the following
location: http://www.townofcarrboro.org/docs.htm.

The Town of Carrboro, NC Web Site is available at the following location: http://www.townofcarrboro.org.

NEW YORK – It proved to be more than a joke when David Letterman said in late September that “the road to the White House runs through me.”

Presidential candidates found late-night comedy shows a particularly valuable asset during the 2008 campaign, making more than four times the number of on-set appearances with Letterman, Jay Leno, Jon Stewart and the crowd than the 2004 contenders did, some new research has found.

“Candidates have figured out that you can reach voters through entertainment venues even better than news,” said Robert Lichter, a George Mason University professor and head of the Center for Media and Public Affairs.

Candidates made 110 appearances on the late-night shows, up from 25 in 2004, the center said. Fifty this time came before a primary vote was even cast, as a full complement of candidates in both parties looked for ways to get their faces in front of cameras – something President Bush didn’t have to worry about four years ago.

There’s a rich history of candidates using entertainment venues to show voters they can laugh at themselves: Richard Nixon went on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in” in 1968, and Bill Clinton played the sax on “The Arsenio Hall Show” in 1992. Yet it wasn’t until 2008 that the appearances began to seem routine.

Republican John McCain made 17 such guest shots on venues that relentlessly made him the butt of jokes, although one appearance he canceled – with Letterman – may be remembered longer than any of them. President-elect Barack Obama had 15 appearances, third behind Republican Mike Huckabee, who now has a talk show of his own on Fox News Channel.

For the shows, it was a way to tap into a campaign that was a television hit from start to finish. Leno had 22 candidate appearances, while Stewart had 21, Letterman had 19 and Stephen Colbert had 15.

Not only does a candidate have the chance to display a sense of humor to the late-night crowd, a good exchange could be magnified with endless repeats on YouTube or cable news networks the next day.

The shows also give the candidates a venue to talk directly to voters than they might otherwise get. In 2000, candidate George Bush had more time to talk in one appearance with Letterman than he had during a full month on the “CBS Evening News,” Lichter said.

And who wants to deal with pesky journalists, who always want to knock you off message?

“It’s a lot more risky, as Sarah Palin will attest, to do an interview with Katie Couric than it is with Jay Leno,” said Howard Wolfson, a veteran campaign strategist and former Hillary Clinton adviser.

They aren’t always puffball appearances, though. Letterman, in particular, has become a particularly sharp interviewer. When McCain backed off an appearance citing the economic crisis – then did an interview with Couric later that day – Letterman wouldn’t let him forget it until McCain came back and pleaded for forgiveness. At a crucial time, Letterman was repeatedly reminding viewers of McCain’s brief campaign suspension, a period the candidate would rather voters have forgotten, Lichter said.

His running mate stayed away from the talk shows but made one memorable appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” getting in on some jokes about her.