“Meet the Candidates” fails to draw much interest from public voters

The tables were lined with literature, the candidates were pacing the room, and their supporters were making their way around the LaMaison Magnolia Reception Hall. The only thing missing from the first annual Meet the Candidates event were citizens who wanted to meet the candidates.

“I wish more people would take advantage of an event like this because, unfortunately, my experience has been that when you go to a meeting like this most of the people there are either candidates or their supporters,” St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said. “You get to know the candidates and their supporters more than the undecided voter.”

Parish president hopeful Chris Tregre agreed.

“I would have liked to have more attendance from the public,” he said. “I think we had more folks that came with the candidates then we did those from the public.”

Since there are so many candidates running for office this year, the River Region Chamber of Commerce figured that an event giving voters a chance to meet and ask the candidates questions about their platform would be a more efficient way to turn that undecided voter into a decided one. In theory, it seemed to be a good idea.

“Any event where you can meet people who need information about you that don’t know you is a good event,” Champagne said. “Of course, I’ve been in office, so people kind of know me and what I’m about.”

However, low turnout made it hard for any of the candidates to give any information about themselves whatsoever. Still though, some of the election’s fresh faces did get a chance to explain their platforms to the handful of citizens that actually showed up for the event.

“We got to educate them a little bit about our platform, because everyone’s is different,” sheriff candidate Eric Stumpf said. “When you hear from these people, you have to take action.”

For most candidates though, they will just have to continue to hit the streets and bring their message to the voters of St. Charles Parish. Hopefully, those voters will take more of an interest in politics as the election creeps closer, however, that interest could come too late.

“The voters wonder why the parish is the way it is, but they aren’t concerned until they really have a problem,” Parish president candidate V.J. St. Pierre said. “They aren’t worried about putting the people in there that can correct the problem before they have it.”