Primary Forums Coming in May

The Plainfield League of Women Voters usually holds a forum before the November general election, but this year will also hold one in advance of the June 6 primary.

The date will be Wednesday, May 31, at Emerson School, 305 Emerson Ave. There are four mayoral candidates and six City Council candidates. Plans call for the mayoral segment to run from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. with the council candidates following from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The nonpartisan forum is conducted by an out-of-town LWV-trained moderator and usually has opening statements, written questions collected from the audience and presented by the moderator, followed by closing statements. The Plainfield LWV also prepares candidate information sheets. Each candidate is asked to submit brief background information, along with answers to three questions from the Plainfield LWV. The candidate sheets will be available at the forum and will be posted online at the Plainfield LWV website.

The website will also be updated with the information above regarding the forum location and format.

The Plainfield Area NAACP has also announced a forum on May 21 on its website. The forum will be held at 5 p.m. at the Plainfield Elks, 1357 W. Third St. Check the website (at NAACP link above) for any updates.

Once again, here is the roster of candidates, with their slogans:

REGULAR DEMOCRATIC ORGANIZATION OF UNION COUNTY
Mayor, Four-year term: Adrian O. Mapp
City Council, Second & Third Wards Unexpired Term: Joylette E. Mills-Ransome
Fourth Ward, Four-year term: Steve Hockaday

DEMOCRATIC PARTY UNITY CANDIDATES
Mayor, Four-year term: Dr. Henrilynn Davis Ibezim
City Council, Second & Third Wards Unexpired Term: Cameron E. Cox
Fourth Ward, Four-year term: Elliott Simmons

DEMOCRATS OF PLAINFIELD
Mayor, Four-year term: Bridget Rivers
City Council, Second & Third Wards Unexpired Term: Alma Blanco
(no Fourth Ward candidate filed)

PLAINFIELD DEMOCRATS FOR CHANGE
Mayor, Four-year term: Tracey L. Brown
Fourth Ward, Four-year term: Terri Briggs

(Second & Third Ward candidate filing was ruled invalid)

No Republicans filed for the primary.

Tuesday, May 16 is the last day to register to vote in the primary and Tuesday, May 30 is the last day to apply by mail for a Mail-In Ballot for the Primary Election, according to Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi.

See the Party Declaration rules here

The Union County Board of Elections publishes updated affiliation statistics in May. As of April 3, 14,754 of Plainfield's 23,643 registered voters were Democrats. The Second & Third Wards had a total of 8,570 and the Fourth Ward had 2,641.  To check in May, click UC Affiliation Statistics and scroll down to page 14 for Plainfield.

--Bernice