Thursday’s candidate forum at the Warren County Courthouse was a great opportunity for voters to hear directly from local candidates seeking office in the Nov. 6 general election. Unfortunately, like voting over the last several years, there was not a tremendous turnout from the community. Perhaps a few dozen or more bothered to listen to the 11 candidates representing circuit and county court, Warren County constable, state appeals court and state District 85 representative.

Those who did attend gained some insight into the candidates about questions ranging from guns in the courthouse to the Mississippi state flag.

Attending were District 2 Appeals Court candidates Eric Charles Hawkins and Deborah McDonald; District 85 candidates JoAnn Collins-Smith, Jeffery Harness and Tyler K. Doss; county court judge candidates Richard “Ricky” Johnson and Marcie Southerland; circuit court candidates Angela Carpenter and Toni Terrett; and constable candidates Mario Grady and Troy Kimble.

We applaud those candidates who did take the time to attend and answer questions directly from those who will be voting. It means much more to voters when they can hear a candidate talk about issues directly, rather than through rhetoric before they cast their ballot.

We also thank the event sponsors, the Vicksburg Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Blacks in Government and the Vicksburg Branch of the NAACP, for giving the local community this opportunity to hear from the candidates prior to the election.

We just hope there is a much larger turnout on Election Day than there was for the political forum.

For those who did not attend, we encourage you to visit vicksburgpost.com and read our coverage of the event.

Also, educate yourself about the candidates running for local office, as well as those who are seeking both of Mississippi’s U.S. Senate seats before you go to the polls, but by all means, vote on Nov. 6.