CENTRE — Nearly two dozen candidates for local and state office are expected to attend a political forum Thursday night at 6 p.m. at the Cherokee Arena on the campus of Gadsden State Cherokee.

The forum, put together by local media with assistance from the Chamber of Commerce and the Weiss Lake Improvement Association, is the first of its kind in Cherokee County.

“We hope the forum will be informative,” said Scott Wright, managing editor of The Post, which is working with the Cherokee County Herald and WEIS Radio to host the event. “We also hope this becomes a regular feature of local politics going forward.”

Wright, along with Herald Editor Terry Dean and WEIS owner Jerry Baker, will comprise the panel that will ask questions of candidates in competitive primary races on March 13. Joy Perry will act as timekeeper.

The media panel members have come up with a list of questions for the candidates composed from a stack of recent submissions from interested voters. With the event set only a few days before the March 13 primary election, Wright said he and the other sponsors are hoping for a crowd of over 350 on Thursday night.

Questions for candidates for school superintendent, board of education, probate judge and county commissioner will stick to the issues important to local voters and give candidates a chance to demonstrate their understanding of the subject matter, Wright said.

“We feel we have come up with a set of questions for the candidates that are reflective of the topics we heard about from our readers and listeners,” he said. “First and foremost, we feel the questions are fair. Fairness was our number one goal.”

Rules for the forum were compiled by the five event sponsors, with input and final approval from the chairmen of the local Democratic and Republican parties.

The Pledge of Allegiance will kick off the event at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. for a meet-and-greet with the candidates. Sample ballots will be available and county election officials and representatives from the local Board of Registrars will be on-hand to answer voter questions.

The forum is scheduled to end around 7:45 p.m.