Candidates from Senate Districts 15 and 9 and House Districts 15A, 15B, 9A and 9B to answer questions regarding issues facing their districts.
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Pioneer PBS will be airing six back-to-back candidate forums on Thursday, October 20 from 7 p.m to 10 p.m. The programs will be available for online viewing at www.pioneer.org/meetthecandidates.
Five of the six races to be featured on October 20 have incumbents in the House and Senate and one race is an open seat. Due to redistricting, the boundaries identifying Senate and House districts have changed for all of the races.
The first interview with opposing candidates’ will be between Minnesota House District 15A challenger Keith VanOverbeke (DFL) and Incumbent Chris Swedzinski R. At 7:30 p.m., House 15B challenger Tom Kuster (DFL) and incumbent Paul Torkelson (R), will share their views. At 8 p.m. the interview with Senate District 15 challenger Anita Gaul (DFL) will be shown, followed by the views of incumbent Senator Gary Dahms (R).
At 8:30 p.m., House district 9A challenger Nancy Jost (DFL) will state her views, followed by incumbent Jeff Backer R. At 9 p.m. House district 9B candidate Jason Satter (DFL) will present his pre-recorded answers. District 9B candidate Tom Murphy (R) was unable to schedule a recording session for this open race in the newly redrawn district with no incumbent House member in the running.
At 9:30 p.m. Senate District 9 candidate Cornel Walker (DFL) will present his views followed by his opponent Jordan Rasmusson (R) who is running for the State Senate for the first time after having served one term in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
“Pioneer PBS is taking a different approach to the usual live debates with the goal of having a more informative, less divisive atmosphere around the election process,” explained President and General Manager Shari Lamke. “This year, we are individually interviewing each candidate and asking everyone the same questions. This way our viewers get succinct, uninterrupted overviews of the candidate’s positions in their own words,” Lamke added.
About Pioneer PBS
Established in 1966, Pioneer PBS is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station dedicated to cultivating and building citizenship in the small towns and farming communities of the Upper Midwest. For more information visit: www.pioneer.org.
