The Rowan County Chamber of Commerce will hold a virtual state legislative candidate forum on Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. 

Due to the current North Carolina gathering restrictions, the forum will be held without audience participation. The forum will be available as a Facebook livestream event on the Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page and re-broadcast several times before election day on WSRG-TV, Salisbury-Rowan Government TV (formerly Access 16); Fision/Hotwire (HD channel 394) and Spectrum (channel 16). You may also listen to it on the radio live on Memories WSAT.  

Confirmed candidates include: Sen. Carl Ford and Tarsha Ellis, who are running for the 33rd District Senate seat; Rep. Harry Warren and Al Heggins, who are seeking the 76th House seat; Rep. Julia Howard and Keith Townsend, who are seeking the 77th District House seat; and Rep. Wayne Sasser (unopposed). The moderator will be Dari Caldwell, president of Dari Caldwell Consulting and retired president of Novant Health Rowan Medical Center.

Moderator Dari Caldwell will ask the candidates questions submitted to the Salisbury Post. Each candidate will have two minutes for opening comments. Please send questions by 5 p.m. Oct. 12 to editor@salisburypost.com. 

This candidate forum is sponsored by: the Salisbury Post; Catawba College; WSAT; and the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the event is to educate voters about the candidates and their stands on issues of importance to the business community. 

The Chamber holds annual candidate forums through the guidance of the Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Terry Osborne. The objective of the committee is to enhance communication and discussion with local, federal and state governments on important issues relating to Rowan County, municipalities, businesses and citizens. The committee is open to chamber members. 

The committee reviews relevant local, state and national issues and makes policy recommendations to the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Particular areas of interest include business advocacy issues, community and economic development, land-use, infrastructure and transportation systems.