Voters in Christian County will have the opportunity to learn more about the candidates in the races for Christian County Sheriff and Circuit Court Judge.  The candidates in both races will speak at a forum Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Pillars in Taylorville.  This comes ahead of the spring primary election on Tuesday, March 17.

Retired judge Ron Spears will moderate the forum.  While it has been marketed as a debate, his aim is that the candidates will speak more to the audience than to each other. 

For many people who have not been in court, the forum will be their first – and perhaps only – look at the Circuit Court candidates.

Moderating is not new for Judge Spears.  He has done so previously for debates, on top of his work as a judge. 

He says he intends to moderate such that the forum runs smoothly and that the focus is more on the candidates than on him. 

Judge Spears hopes the electorate will use the opportunity to educate themselves on these candidates and others and, most importantly for him, vote in the primaries.

WTIM Your Information Station will carry live coverage of the candidates’ forum on Thursday night.  More information on elections in Illinois is available at the Illinois State Board of Election's website, elections.il.gov.

Judge Ron Spears appeared as a guest on the WTIM Pana Morning Show.