CONA to hold forum for all the candidates seeking State House seats for Districts 72 and 73

Session set for April 11 at the Sarasota Garden Club off Tamiami Trail in downtown Sarasota

On Monday, April 11, the Sarasota County Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (CONA) will hold a forum for the candidates campaigning for two Florida House seats, the organization has announced.

Edward Elliot James III and Alexandra Cynthia Miller, who are seeking the District 72 seat; and James T. Golden, Joe Gruters and Steve Vernon, who are seeking the District 73 seat, have been invited to attend the event, a news release says.

“Using atypical question formats and timing, CONA makes an effort to provide its members and the public with a more thorough understanding of the positions of each candidate than usually achieved at candidate forums,” the release points out. Sarasota attorney Dan Lobeck will be the moderator.

This will be CONA’s first candidate forum for the state and local 2016 elections, the release notes. “Because we and many of our members take vacations in the summer, we are starting early to reach the greatest number of voters,” the release says. “There is much to cover before the primary in August. Our monthly meetings for April, May, and June will be devoted to forums,” the release continues.

Videos of past meetings are posted on the CONA website, the release points out, so the candidate forum videos will be available through the election in November.

See www.conasarasota.org/meetings for more about CONA.

The April 11 meeting will begin with a social at 6:30 p.m., followed by the forum at 7 p.m.

CONA sessions are held at the Sarasota Garden Club, located at 1131 Boulevard of the Arts in Sarasota, at the intersection of that street and Tamiami Trail, south of the Municipal Building.