Shenandoah County Candidate Forums

Meet the Candidates. Ask Questions.

The business, agriculture, environmental and nonprofit communities have partnered through their respective associations to host candidate forums for the upcoming November elections.

The Shenandoah County Chamber of Commerce, Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley, and Farm Bureau of Shenandoah County know the candidate forums are a great opportunity for voters to meet the candidates and ask questions and for the candidates to introduce themselves and tell us why they are running for office.

"The Shenandoah County Farm Bureau is proud to once again be a host. These forums give county residents the opportunity to meet the county and state candidates and learn about their views and opinions on the issues that are important to us. I encourage residents to come participate and get to know who's running prior to voting in November," said the Shenandoah County Farm Bureau President, Chuck French.

According to candidate forum organizers, great effort has been made to ensure the events are civil, nonpartisan discussions of the issues and informative for all county voters. “The Chamber looks forward to working with our forum partners to deliver a comprehensive and fair opportunity to meet and hear from our candidates,” said Sharon Baroncelli, Shenandoah County Chamber President/CEO.

Candidates will be asked to answer questions submitted by citizens who attend the candidate forums. An impartial moderator will select and read the questions and make any subsequent decisions on follow up by the participating candidates. Questions must be submitted in writing by 6:15pm on the day of the event. Cards will be provided for citizens to submit questions.

All officially registered candidates were sent invitations to participate. The following candidates will be participating:

On the day of the candidate forum, doors will open at 5:30pm for question submissions. Index cards will be provided for attendees to submit questions. Cards must be submitted in writing no later than 6:15pm and all submissions must be in the form of a question and not as a statement or testimonial. Meet and Greet with candidates will start at 5:30pm. Uncontested candidates for Clerk of Court (Karla S. Ortts), Sheriff (Timothy C. Carter), Commissioner of Revenue (Melissa D. “Missy” Hockman), Treasurer (Cindy A. George), and Lord Fairfax Soil and Water Conservation Directors (Joan M. Comanor and Mary L. Gessner) are invited to join us for the Meet and Greet. Forum will start promptly at 6:30pm.

All forums will be video recorded for later broadcast by Shenandoah County high school students, in partnership Hank Zimmerman, a Shenandoah County resident with video production experience, including recording and producing the 2021 candidate forum video broadcasts.