With election day less than two months away, the two remaining candidates in the race to become Long Beach’s next mayor are scheduled to take part in a Sept. 21 forum on the campus of Cal State Long Beach.
The one-hour forum is being hosted by Associated Students Inc. and the Long Beach League of Women Voters and will be moderated by Eli Aguayo, the chief of government relations for ASI, who is hoping to get students more involved in the local election.
“I’m excited that our students have an opportunity to engage with the candidates in a forum like this,” Aguayo said in a statement. “Being civically engaged, especially at a local level, is so important right now and it is great to have student voices and concerns heard.”
Councilmembers Rex Richardson and Suzie Price are the two remaining candidates in what had been a crowded field entering the June primary vote. Richardson garnered the biggest share of the votes (44.1%) in June, with Price placing second with 37% of the vote.
Richardson finished over 5,000 votes ahead of Price in the primary where just 24% of registered voters cast ballots in the city. However, the Nov. 8 election could have greater turnout because of a slew of statewide ballot initiatives and local charter amendments that will be on the ballot.
While nearly 75,000 ballots were mailed out to voters between ages 18 and 34, just over 8,200 were returned in the primary election, according to PDI, a firm that tracks election data.
The forum is open to the public. Aguayo will field questions from the audience in addition to the ones he asks the candidates. Shannon Couey, a communications coordinator with ASI said the audience members will be able to submit written questions that will be collected and given to Aguayo to ask the candidates.
During the primary, forums and debates often had up to six candidates on stage so the smaller field could allow more time for questions to be asked during the forum.
Attendees will have to pay for parking, Couey said. Paid parking lots are available across the campus and a reduced rate of $12 is available for 90-minute parking. However, regular daily parking on the campus is $15.
The Sept. 21 forum is scheduled to be held at 5:30 p.m. inside the University Student Union Beach Auditorium., which is located on the first floor of the USU building. Any G lot is available for general parking and the closest lots to the USU building are G-1 and G-3. A link to register for the forum can be found here.
Campaign complaints have been filed in the LB mayoral race—but they rarely result in fines