TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) — The Indiana primary election is a little over a month away. Tuesday night the Tippecanoe County Farm Bureau is giving people the opportunity to meet the candidates in the May 8 primary.
The "Meet the Candidate" event is being held at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds. It will start at 6 p.m. in the home economics building.
More than 20 candidates are expected to be there. From 6:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. there will be an informal meet and greet. That's the time for people in the community to ask candidates questions.
"The main purpose really is when our membership goes to the voting booth for the primary they can really make an informed decision," said Tippecanoe County Farm Bureau chairman Alan Duttlinger. "They're just not checking a box on maybe a name the recognize, but really making an informed decision on the candidate that they think would be the best fit for that office."
The program will start at 6:30 p.m. and those running will each have two to three minutes to speak. This is their chance to explain why they are seeking their spot in office.
This is also time for, "some dialogue and some discussion back and forth regarding topics of concern to both our membership as well as our candidates and then a chance to get to know each other," added Duttlinger.
Tom Turpin, former Purdue entomologist professor, is tonight's MC and in the past he has brought bugs with him to the "Meet the Candidate" event. If a candidate went over the two to three minutes they are allowed to speak, they had to hold a large bug as punishment. Tuesday night's punishment will be a surprise.
The Indiana Primary election is being held on May 8. The last day to register to vote is April 9. You can check if you are registered to vote here.
The list of candidates in attendance is:
Jason Dombkowski
Barry Richard
John Woody Ricks
Pat Harrington
Earl McCoy
Tracy Brown
Ilana Stonebraker
Dave Williams
Roland Winger
Erica Beumel
Kathy Vernon
Lisa Dullum
Vicki Burch
Victoria Woeste
Julie Roush
Shannon Withers
Tobi Beck
Roger Day
Veronikka Ziol
Jared Thomas
Sheryl Shipley
Loretta Barnes
Sharon Negele
Michael Oxenrider
Chris Campbell
Jennifer Teising
