Congratulations to Levie Maddox and Pam Dickerson on their runoff victories Tuesday.

While Dickerson was elected to another term in office, for Maddox and most of the rest of our local candidates now is when the real deal begins.

There are more than two months before the General Election, plenty of time for candidates to differentiate themselves from their opponents and garner as many votes as possible.

In 2008, Newton as well as nearly every other county in the U.S., experienced historic turnouts given the presence of Barack Obama in the election.

We hope that those voters return to the polls and are joined by even more Americans. Our free society is best served by an informed and active electorate.

In preparation for the Nov. 6 election, The Covington News and the Covington-Newton County Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a forum for all local candidates facing opposition in the General Election on Oct. 17 at the Newton County College and Career Academy, 144 Ram Drive, Covington.

We'll have more details on this and other events in the coming weeks, including planned in-depth video interviews for some local races. As always, if you have questions for the candidates email them to Editor Gabriel Khouli at gkhouli@covnews.com or Chamber President Hunter Hall at hhall@newtonchamber.com.

We'll try our best to keep you informed so that you'll be able to choose the candidate that most closely matches your beliefs and can lead us down the road of prosperity.