17 candidates to attend public forums
PORTSMOUTH — Voters are being invited to meet the 17 candidates for City Council in a pair of forums hosted by Seacoastonline and the Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth’s Public Policy Committee.
Seacoastonline.com readers can now view all 17 City Council candidates views’ on key Portsmouth issues, as all the candidates have responded to a questionnaire.
The 2023 city election is Tuesday, Nov. 7, when voters will be asked to make their choices for the nine-member council.
Meet the candidates in person: Portsmouth City Council forum details
Voters will have a chance to sit down and talk with all 17 candidates Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 17-18, 89:30 a.m. each day at Strawbery Banke Museum.
Eight candidates are scheduled to appear for the Tuesday session: Andrew Bagley, Rick Becksted, Rich Blalock, Kevin Coyle, Deaglan McEachern, Kathleen Soldati, Paige Trace and Peter Whelan.
Nine candidates are scheduled to appear for the Wednesday session: Kate Cook, Joshua Denton, Petra Huda, Joanna Kelley, Esther Kennedy, Vince Lombardi, Beth Moreau, Andrea Pickett and John Tabor.
Attendees will have the opportunity to have 10-minute small group discussion with each candidate to learn more about their vision for the city and their goals for being on council. Voters who attend can direct questions to each candidate during this session. For information, email Ben VanCamp, the chamber president, at ben@portsmouthcollaborative.org.
The top finisher in the election becomes mayor and the No. 2 finisher
becomes assistant mayor. The 2023 ballot includes McEachern, the incumbent mayor, Kelley, the incumbent assistant mayor, and incumbent councilors Bagley, Blalock, Cook, Denton, Lombardi, Moreau and Tabor. They are being challenged by Becksted, a past mayor and councilor, and past councilors Huda, Kennedy, Trace and Whelan, as well as three newcomers to the council race: Coyle, Pickett and Soldati.
Read Portsmouth City Council candidates' views on the issues in their own words
Seacoastonline.com has published responses to its candidates questionnaire from all 17 candidates for City Council. The candidates were asked for their views on the best site in Portsmouth for new below-market-rate housing, challenges facing the city, the city budget, development, a new police station, a new sports arena, the McIntyre building and more.