This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Voters Get Chance to Meet Gwinnett Candidates

Qualified candidates were invited to set-up a table and share their information at a candidate forum held at Berkmar High School Tuesday night.

The in partnership with the Organization of Chinese Americans (Georgia) and the United Ebony Society of Gwinnett County, hosted a Judicial Candidate forum at Berkmar High School in Lilburn on Tuesday night.

Peachtree Corners resident Amreeta Regmi, the Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Gwinnett took part in organizing the forum.

The room was crowded, as candidates with grassroots campaigns took the opportunity to share their messages and shake hands with future constituents.

Find out what's happening in Peachtree Cornerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

, a Suwanee businessman running for Congress against incumbent Rob Woodall, is making his second bid for public office. He ran for State House four years ago.

“The reason I ran four years ago is that the guy that had been my representative for years and years, no one would run against him,” said Hancock.

Find out what's happening in Peachtree Cornerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Hancock wishes more people would consider running so that the public has more options.  

After much consideration, Hancock, a software company executive, decided to run again, this time for Congress. He has pledged to accept no money, and so getting out and meeting voters in places like this is part of his grassroots campaign.

Many of this year's candidates are first-timers. Karen Bennett, Georgia House District 94 candidate, and Mark Williams, State Senate 55 candidate, are both new to politics, and were inspired to run when the districts were redrawn.

Neither  nor , both who are running for Gwinnett County Probate Judge, have run before. The two candidates were given the opportunity to speak before a media panel and the public to make their positions and individual strengths known.

“People learn so much about the candidates this way,” said League of Women Voters member Dot Shaw. “I hope they will learn how the political system works. If they learn it, they can be more involved.”

The media panel was composed of five community leaders and influencers, including Lawrenceville Patch Editor .

While judicial elections often do not get too much attention, retirements of three long-time judges has brought more candidates to the surface.

Participants included:

Gwinnett Superior Court Judge

Gwinnett State Court Judge

Gwinnett Probate Court Judge

A video of the forum will be available on Gwinnett County's website Friday at 8 p.m. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Peachtree Corners