Republicans schedule own candidate forum for Thursday

FORT MADISON – Three candidates for state seats in the upcoming General Election have formed their own forum to discuss legislative issues.
State Sen. Jeff Reichman (R-50th, Montrose), State Rep. Martin Graber (R-100th, Fort Madison), and State Rep. Matt Rinker ( R-99th, Burlington) will participate in a moderated forum at Turnwater Bar & Grill Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
The forum was announced Tuesday morning and will be held at the same time as the state candidate forum in Montrose at the Lee County Career Advantage Center. That event will now feature newcomers Nannette Griffin and Jim Beres, both Democrats. Griffin is challenging Reichman for the 50th Senate District, which includes all of Lee County and southern Des Moines County, to include Burlington.
Beres is challenging Rinker for the 99th Iowa House district which includes the district North of Burlington to south of New London and into Green Bay township to the south in Lee County.
The forum will be open to the public and will run from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. with questions allowed from the public.
The forum in Montrose is being sponsored by Mississippi Valley Media, Pen City Current, and the League of Women voters. It will be moderated by RadioKeokuk. A zoom link for the forums has been set up and can be reached through the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88931285132.
Rinker, Reichman, and Graber were all invited to the Montrose forum. Reichman and Graber declined and Rinker agreed to participate before eventually deciding to participate in the Republican forum and forego the Montrose event.
Another forum for Lee County Supervisors will be held next Thursday starting at 6 p.m. at the Lee County Career Advantage Center in Montrose. The following Thursday, Oct. 10, will feature Lee County Sheriff Stacy Weber and Lee County Auditor candidates Roslyn Garcia and Sherri Yasenchok. Elliott Vandenberg, Weber’s opponent for sheriff, has declined to participate in the Montrose event citing a conflict with the terms of the forum, but has said he's willing to debate Weber in an open floor format with a neutral moderator. No information about a future debate on those terms is available.