Orange County’s political season will kick into high gear Thursday with the first of four Feet to the Fire forums co-sponsored by the Daily Pilot, the Orange County Register and Voice of OC.
The first group of candidates to subject themselves to a grilling by political reporters are those vying to represent residents living in the 74th Assembly District.
Newport Beach Councilman Keith Curry, largely seen as the front-runner, will gather with four other challengers, including Huntington Beach Mayor Matt Harper; Emanuel Patrascu, district director for Assemblyman Travis Allen; and political newcomers Karina Onofre and Anila Ali.
The discussion kicks off at 7 p.m. at the Costa Mesa Community Center, 1845 Park Ave., Costa Mesa.
As always, the discussion is designed as a no-holds-barred session where reporters can query prospective and current elected officials on any topic.
Other forums scheduled for this year include an April 28 session on who will replace outgoing county Supervisor John Moorlach in the 2nd District.
On Sept. 18, panelists will interview candidates running for the Costa Mesa City Council, and on Oct. 1, candidates for Newport Beach City Council come under the microscope.
For all the debates, Voice of OC Editor-in-Chief Norberto Santana Jr. will join a panel including Register and Daily Pilot columnist Barbara Venezia, Daily Pilot editor John Canalis, Register columnist Jack Wu and Daily Pilot City Editor Alicia Lopez.
Readers who want to pose their own questions Thursday should leave them as comments on this article.