While early voting may have already started, voters will have a chance to hear from candidates themselves at the State Senate District 43 Candidates forum on Thursday, October 22, 2015 at Antioch A.M.E. Church, 1790 Ebenezer Road, Conyers, hosted by Rockdale-Newton Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW) in collaboration with several organizations.
 
All candidates of the special election for State Senate District 43 have been invited to participate in an open forum where pre-determined questions as well as questions from the audience will be presented. The moderator for the forum will be George Chidi, Councilman of Pine Lake, GA City Council and editorial writer for the Peach Pundit.

Nine people are on the ballot for the State Senate District 43 Special Election, including two Newton County residents - Sharon Sawyer and Marcus Jordan. The election was called to fill the remaining year in the term after the seat was vacated after former Sen. Ronald Ramsey was appointed as a DeKalb State Court judge Although this special election is nonpartisan and candidates can choose to declare a party affiliation or no affiliation, there are five candidates declared as Democrats, three declared as Republicans and one with no party affiliation. The candidates are: communications specialist Angela Moore (no affiliation), business owner Diane Adoma (Republican), business owner/educator JaNice Frey Van Ness (Republican), Newton County's Chief Appraiser Marcus Jordan (Democrat), contractor Rodney Upton (Democrat), financial analyst Sharon Griffin Sawyer (Democrat), retired consultant/businessman Stan Williams (Democrat), former State House District 92 Rep. and life coach Tonya P. Anderson (Democrat), retired man William "Bill" Kennedy (Republican).

Organizers include the Rockdale-Newton Section NCNW; Rockdale, DeKalb & Newton Chapters NAACP; Rockdale-Newton & DeKalb Chapters League of Women Voters; and the Rockdale-Newton Chapter National Action Network.

For more information, contact Rhonda Taylor at 678-824-2946 or email at events@rockdalenewtonncnw.org.