MITCHELL — Voters in Mitchell and the surrounding area will have a chance to study the platforms of candidates for seats for the Mitchell Board of Education and Legislative District 20 Tuesday evening.
The candidates will appear at a forum Tuesday, May 17 at the Sherman Center on the campus of Dakota Wesleyan University. The event, which will be livestreamed by the Mitchell Republic and is open to the general public free of charge, is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. with the District 20 representative candidates and the Mitchell Board of Education candidates to follow.
A candidate forum is a public event where candidates running for office are given the opportunity to express their positions on issues. All candidates for each race have been invited to participate, according to a release from the Mitchell Chamber of Commerce.
Representatives from local media entities have been invited to pose questions to the candidates. Individuals from the public who choose to attend will be able to submit questions to the media representatives by writing them down. Media representatives will then have final selections of which questions to ask during the forum.
The race for District 20 will see three candidates square off for two open seats in the South Dakota House of Representatives. Incumbent Lance Koth will be on the ballot to face off against challengers Ben Krohmer and Jeff Bathke. In that race, the two candidates who receive the most votes will win the primary election. With no independent or Democratic candidates having filed, the two top finishers will essentially claim the two seats with a primary victory.
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Incumbent Rep. Paul Miskimins is not running for another term as representative. All candidates in the District 20 race hail from Mitchell.
District 20 Sen. Joshua Klumb has also filed a petition to run for his seat again, though he will not face a challenger in the primary.
District 20 recently underwent district boundary changes. The district was previously composed of Davison, Aurora and Jerauld counties. It is now made up of Davison, Sanborn and Jerauld counties.
For the second time in as many years, the Mitchell Board of Education will see six candidates compete for two seats on the five-member board. Incumbent Deb Olson will look to retake her seat in the election. Also on the ballot for those two positions will be Tim Moon, Jeff Sand, Terry Aslesen, David Lambert and Chris Foster.
Like the District 20 seats, the two candidates who receive the most votes will win the seats on the board. Kevin Kenkel, whose seat is also up for election this year, has chosen not to run for re-election this year.
The election for both District 20 and the Mitchell Board of Education will be held during the South Dakota primary Tuesday, June 7.
The Government Affairs Committee of the Mitchell Area Chamber of Commerce is an organization that seeks to maintain awareness of local, state and federal issues and facilitate information sharing and public awareness among members and citizens. It promotes interest and involvement in the elective and governmental process as well as encourages and enhances community leadership through various events, forums and programs.
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