On Tuesday, February 20, the League of Women Voters of the Aurora Area, Central Kane County, and Elgin Area will co-host a hybrid forum for the 2024 General Primary candidates in contested races for Kane County Recorder, Kane County Board Districts 12 and 14, and for Illinois State Rep District 49.

The forum will be held at 6:30PM in person at Batavia City Hall. It will also be live streamed and available for later viewing on the BATV YouTube Channel.

Then on Thursday, February 22, they’ll hold a separate forum for Illinois State Rep in the 83rd District and U.S. Congress in the 11th District. That forum will be held at 7PM in person at Batavia City Hall.

Following the events, a recording of each forum will be posted to the websites of the IL Voter Guide (https://illinoisvoterguide.org/) as well as the websites of the League organizations sponsoring the forum (the League of Women Voters of the Aurora Area https://my.lwv.org/illinois/aurora-area, the League of Women Voters of Central Kane County https://my.lwv.org/illinois/central-kane-county, and the League of Women Voters of the Elgin Area https://lwvelginarea.org/).

According to Patti Lackman, Voter Service Chair of the LWV of Central Kane County, “The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization whose dedicated volunteers work tirelessly to promote democracy and citizen engagement in civic life. The League never sponsors or endorses candidates. Our organization has a long history of conducting candidate forums and is widely considered to be one of the most capable non-partisan organizations in this regard. We are excited to hear from the candidates and provide them with this opportunity to share their views with voters in their districts.”

Each forum will be divided into segments. During these segments, each candidate will have an opportunity to respond to questions submitted in advance or asked by the viewing audience.

For the Tuesday forum, invitations to participate were extended to each of the candidates who will appear on the General Primary ballot. Matt Hanson and Arad Boxenbaum are competing for the Democrat nomination for Illinois House District 83.

In the 11th Congressional District, Bill Foster and Qasim Rashid are competing for the Democrat nomination, while Jerry Evans, O Kent Mercado, and Susan Hathaway-Altman are competing for the Republican nomination.

For the Thursday forum, invitations to participate were extended to the following candidates running in contested races: Aris Garcia and Hannah Billingsley are vying for the Republican nomination for Illinois House District 49 (the Democrat in District 49 – Maura Hirschauer is running unopposed).

Marisela Villegas and Brenda Rodgers are competing for the Democratic nomination for the office of Kane County Recorder; Republicans Bill Roth and Michelle Geen are competing for County Board District 12, and Republicans Jonathan Gripe and Mark Davoust are competing for County Board District 14.

Here are some important dates to know for the upcoming March 19, 2024 General Primary Election:

• February 8 – March 18, 2024: Early voting at Kane County Elections office and Aurora satellite.

• March 4 – March 18, 2024: Early voting at all Kane County early voting polling locations.

• February 20, 2024: Last day to register to vote.

• February 21 – March 18, 2024: Grace period registration and voting at Kane County Elections office and Aurora Satellite.

• March 19, 2024: Election Day! Polls open from 6 am to 7 pm.

Nonpartisan information about voting in Illinois can be found at https://illinoisvoterguide.org/. Anyone wishing to find out more about this candidate forum or any other event hosted by the League of Women Voters of Central Kane County may obtain more information by emailing [email protected].

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

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