“Both parties will hold conventions to endorse candidates for this year’s election and Secretary of State and Treasurer are the only races that have multiple candidates on the Democratic side,” DTC Chairman Chris Anderson said. “And New Britain Democrats are delighted to welcome the many qualified Democratic candidates. They have a lot of work ahead of them to secure the nomination in May and win the election in November, and this forum is a first step in interacting with New Britain voters as they advocate for their respective offices.

The forum takes place in the Community Hall of the New Britain Public Library at 1 p.m. with the candidates for Secretaries of State, followed by the candidates for Treasurers at 2.30 p.m.

“We’re preparing specific questions that we think are relevant to state issues, but also to New Britain, because the city is part of the state issues,” Anderson said. “This will not be a formal debate or open mic, but rather a question and answer form where contestants will be asked to respond to specific questions.”

The DTC wanted to not only give Democratic residents of New Britain the opportunity to hear from these candidates, but to give these candidates the opportunity to connect with residents.

“A lot of these things tend to happen over the phone and sometimes that’s not always the best,” Anderson said. “Head to head can be really great so we wanted to make sure there was an opportunity for New Britain Democrats and convention delegates in particular to compare the candidates side by side because there are a lot qualified people in the race and we just wanted this opportunity for everyone.

The candidates for Secretary of State are Hilda Santiago, Matt Lesser, Josh Elliott, Maritza Bond and Stephanie Thomas. The candidate treasurers are Erick Russell, Karen DuBois-Walton and Dita Bhargava.

“It’s tricky (who will be able to attend) because some of these people are current lawmakers, so hopefully that won’t come into conflict,” Anderson said. “But almost everyone confirmed.”

According to Anderson, the New Britain Democratic Town Committee held a similar forum for state conventions for offices during the election four years ago and he wanted to continue that tradition.

“I think it’s a valuable way to connect with these candidates and ensure they have the opportunity to set foot in New Britain,” he said. “When you run for a statewide race, you don’t always go everywhere, so we want to make sure they show up so people have a chance to see them.”

The New Britain Public Library is located at 20 High St.

For more information, contact Anderson at [email protected] or 860-303-4541.