WESTFIELD – The second in a series of legislative candidate forums sponsored by The Westfield News Group will be held this evening at 7 p.m. at Westfield Vocational-Technical High School.
Tonight’s forum will be moderated by Westfield News Group President Patrick Berry and will feature the candidates running for the 4th Hampden District seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives – the incumbent, Democrat John Velis and his challenger, Republican Dan Allie.
In a rematch of an April 1 special election that saw Velis, a city attorney, defeat Allie, a freshmen at-large city councilor, both candidates will attempt to once again make their cases to voters tonight, less than a week before the November 4 election next week.
Allie and Velis are now vying for a full two-year term, as the special election was held to fill the remainder of the term for the seat vacated by now-state Sen. Don Humason, Jr., the longtime Republican state Rep. for the 4th Hampden District who went on to defeat Holyoke City Councilor David Bartley in a special election to fill the 2nd Hampden-Hampshire District seat in the state Senate vacated by Michael R. Knapik in 2013.
In their attempts to woo voters, Velis and Allie will answer a set list of questions and get an opportunity to lay out their messages.
