A rematch for Beaumont’s mayoral seat, the promise of a new mayor in Silsbee, multiple termed-out Port Arthur council members looking for a new way to continue representing the city’s residents and a former Beaumont school board member who lost his seat due to a move outside the district that wants back on the elected body — it must be election season.
And as is tradition, the Beaumont Enterprise’s semi-regular voter guide aims to help readers choose their best candidate before heading to the voting booth.
The guide includes comments from nearly every candidate in contested Southeast Texas races, and made multiple attempts to connect with even more than you’ll see quoted.
To give us an opportunity to cover even more cities, this cycle you’ll also see a “candidate statement” section, which includes statements from candidates in the running to represent some of Southeast Texas’ smaller cities. Even though fewer voters will turn out in those locations, we didn’t want to leave them totally in the lurch.
The work on the voter guide began shortly after candidates finished filing to run.
Each reporter was assigned a number of races to cover, and they created lists of four or five questions based on issues important to people in the area, such as drainage, roads and crime, to name a few represented.
The candidates in each race are then asked the same questions in the same manner to make it as fair as possible. The candidates in the “statement” section were all instructed to provide a statement explaining why they think they’re the best candidate to run as well as a photo so all of you can better identify them when you see them at the grocery store.
Their responses are edited for length and clarity — we try to keep each to about 100 words — but otherwise, the answers you see from each candidate are exactly what they had to say.
Usually, our role as reporters is to give you broader context about an issue, including several experts weighing in.
But today, our job is to give you an opportunity to hear directly from each candidate so you can decide who best aligns with your values.
Follow The Enterprise through the election cycle for more information about voter turnout, winners and other election happenings.
