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Bonnie Earl vividly remembers her first speech at the Jasper County Lincoln Ladies Ice Cream Social and Candidates’ Forum.
Earl, the Jasper County clerk, is unopposed in the primary election this year and therefore was not required to speak at the Lincoln Ladies event Monday night at the Carthage Memorial Auditorium.
But that was not the case in the summer of 2006, and she said Monday night that she understood exactly what the 18 candidates scheduled to speak were going through.
“There is a lot of pressure,” Earl said. “You have three minutes to tell everyone in the room why you are the most qualified candidate for the office you’re running for.”
A large crowd turned out to hear from candidates seeking the 7th Congressional District nomination, three state representative districts, the Jasper County presiding commissioner spot and the office of circuit clerk.
Monday night’s crowd made up of voters, candidate supporters, staffers and family members shared cupcakes and ice cream, and mingled with the office seekers for about an hour before the candidates were introduced and given three minutes to address the crowd.
Jeannie Wells is a member of the Jasper County Lincoln Ladies and helped organize the event. Wells, who is the Jasper County treasurer but not on the ballot this year, said she’s not sure how long the organization has sponsored the forum.
“It’s been at least 40 years,” she said. “I have been at the courthouse 34 years, and I know they were sponsoring since long before then,” she said.
The Lincoln Ladies group, Wells explained, is made up of area women who want to be involved in Republican politics.
The forums, Wells said, have always been part social and part political. The idea, she said, is to allow voters to meet the candidates and hear them make the case for why they should be elected.
Jenny Mansfield, who was in charge of the event, said the candidates’ forum has always had a “Norman Rockwell quality” to it.
The forum, Wells said, is casual but with an underlying sense of political tension.
“They have always said that if you go (from the forum) feeling good about your performance, then you will probably win the election,” she said.
All but one of the candidates seeking the 7th Congressional District GOP nomination addressed the crowd. The congressional candidates who attended the session were Jeff Wisdom, Gary Nodler, Mike Moon, Darrell Moore, Jack Goodman, Billy Long, and Steve Hunter. Michael Wardell was unable to attend because of a family emergency.
David Jerome and Mike Kelley, two of three candidates seeking the nomination for state representative from the 126th District spoke. William Savard did not attend.
Charlie Davis and Bill Birkes, who are seeking the state representative nod from the 128 District, and William White and Shelly Dreyer, who are squaring off for the nomination for state representative from the 129th District, addressed the crowd.
Also at the forum were three of the four Republican candidates for Jasper County presiding commissioner. The four candidates who appeared were David Troyer, John Bartosh and James Pendergraft. Jeff Hammons did not attend.
Linda Williams and Melissa Holcomb, both seeking the nomination for circuit clerk, also spoke.
Time limit
The candidates who spoke Monday night adhered to the strictly enforced three-minute time limit. For the most part, the candidates used their time to introduce themselves and explain why they were running for office.
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