Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commission to hold a nonpartisan Candidate Meet-&-Speak on President’s Day

THE WOODLANDS, TX – The Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commission is hosting a nonpartisan political event for citizens and veterans to familiarize themselves with candidates. The Political Candidate Meet-&-Speak and Cake Auction will take place at the Lone Star Convention Center on Presidents Day, February 21, starting at 5:30 p.m. Members of the public are invited – and encouraged – to attend this free event.

“More than 60 candidates from both major parties accepted our invitation to participate in this event,” said Janeen McSwain, executive director of the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commission (MCVMC). “Practically every race that affects our county will be represented, with candidates running for Conroe city elections, statewide including governor and lieutenant governor, congressional candidates for both Districts 2 and 8, and all Montgomery County elections.”

McSwain is encouraged at the high turnout of candidates and – in some cases – their proxies. The goal of the meet-and-speak is to give county residents and other interested parties a chance to meet as many candidates as possible with a minimum – or absence – of political agenda, and for a worthy cause.

“Not only are we having the candidates speak, but we are also raising funds for our organization and for our local Boy Scouts,” said McSwain. “We are very big on outreach when it comes to our troops and our Scouts; in fact, we have several Eagle Scouts who do projects with us. We’re very keen on educating our youth.” On top of the speaking, a cake auction will be held; McSwain has also put out a call to at-home and professional bakers alike to donate their cakes to the cause.

Last year, MCVMC partnered with the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) but this year took the reins to handle the entire thing itself. McSwain stressed that this event is not a forum in the traditional sense. “Instead of a debate, we are providing an opportunity for candidates to let people know about them. Each candidate or their proxy will be given three minutes to just talk about themselves.”

To keep the event “fresh,” the races won’t go in ballot order from most serious district or statewide ones to smaller municipal ones; instead, according to McSwain, “We’ll do candidates running for a local office, then a statewide one, then another local, then so on, back and forth.” However, candidates in each category will be presented in ballot order.

For those who can’t make the event in person, it will also be livestreamed on Facebook Live. There is a link available for people to learn more about the event:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/political-meet-speak-and-cake-auction-tickets-242465178877