League of Women Voters holds mayoral forum, not debate

A few weeks after John Lassiter backed out of a League of Women Voters debate over a format he said included too many rebuttals, now he won't have to contend with any. That's because instead of having a mayoral debate, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg League of Women Voters is holding a mayoral forum. Lassiter and Anthony Foxx will appear separately and have 30 minutes each to answer questions. Amanda Raymond, the local league's debate director, says this format made more sense than canceling the event altogether. "We sort-of sat down and said, 'You know, how could we do it? Are we going to let this just go?' says Raymond. "We all agreed that it was important to have some sort of additional format for the mayoral candidates to address the voters." Raymond says depending on how this forum turns out, the league may hold future candidates events in a non-debate format. The forum will air October 27th on WTVI and WSOC. The segments with Lassiter and Foxx will air back-to-back.