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Two branches of the Vermont NAACP hosted forums last weekend designed for the candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general to discuss racial equity issues facing Vermont and take questions from voters.

But only two of the six major party candidates showed up.

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The Democratic candidate for governor, Christine Hallquist, and Republican candidate for attorney general, Janssen Willhoit, were the only major party candidates in attendance, according to Tabitha Pohl-Moore, president of the NAACP’s Rutland chapter.

The forums, hosted by the NAACP in Rutland and Brattleboro on Saturday, were the first of their kind in the state sponsored by the organization, which established Vermont branches in the last few years. They also came at the end of a summer that saw a couple high-profile instances of racial tension spark debate over how seriously Vermont is addressing the issue.

In August, Rep. Kiah Morris, D-Bennington, withdrew from her re-election bid in part because she had been the target of threats and racial harassment during her time in office, and had little success in working with law enforcement to address the problem. Also last month, children at a summer camp in Stowe were the target of racial slurs, prompting camp directors to say the program for adopted children of color would no longer be hosted in Vermont.

Major party candidates who did not attend the forums said they had scheduling conflicts. They were Democratic Attorney General TJ Donovan, Progressive Lt. Gov. Dave Zuckerman, Republican Gov. Phil Scott and Rep. Don Turner, R-Milton, the outgoing House minority leader who is running against Zuckerman

Vermont Public Radio reported on the poor attendance expected at the forums last week.

There was a stronger showing among third-party candidates, including Emily Peyton, a Liberty Union Party candidate for governor; Trevor Barlow, an independent running for governor; Steven Marks, an Earth Rights party candidate for governor; and Murray Ngoima, a Liberty Union candidate for lieutenant governor.

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But Pohl-Moore said she was disappointed by the poor showing from major party candidates.

“It’s hard not to take it personally and I feel like I need to leave them room to have their own lives,” Pohl-Moore said. “And the expectation is that if they aren’t there, they’re going to make sure that this priority is clearly articulated in everything they do going forward.”

Invitations to the forum went out about one month in advance, according to Pohl-Moore.

Scott, who has condemned the recent incidents of racism and talked of the need for a more civil discourse, did not attend the forums because he had committed to attending Vermont Day at the Big E, an annual New England agricultural exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

His campaign manager, Brittney Wilson, said she has reached out to the NAACP “to see if there are other opportunities for the governor the speak with them.”

Donovan had a longstanding personal engagement on the date of the forum, said his campaign manager, Natalie Silver.

“We’re really hoping to do another forum because we’re sorry to miss it and it’s just an unfortunate scheduling conflict,” she said.

Pohl-Moore said the NAACP is in the process of organizing another forum with the candidates for attorney general in the coming weeks.

Zuckerman had other campaign events planned on Saturday, according to his campaign spokesperson, Jesse Warren.

“He has encouraged folks to attend the forums both on Facebook and through his email list in Rutland and Windham counties on the basis that he believes that the onus is on each of us to learn what we can do to help,” Warren said in an email.

Turner said he wasn’t even aware of the forums until a reporter with Vermont Public Radio reached out to ask him about them last week. He had other campaign events scheduled in Bennington on Saturday.

“I don’t have a record of receiving any invitation to it,” Turner said of the forums. “We have been scheduling stuff all summer long. We didn’t get an invitation.”

Those who did attend the forums — which were webcast — were quizzed about how they would tackle implicit bias and racial inequity in Vermont.

Willhoit, a Republican and defense attorney who has been an outspoken advocate for criminal justice reform, told attendees at the Rutland forum he strives to educate juries and courtrooms about implicit bias and racial inequity in the criminal justice system by bringing in experts to testify about it.

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As attorney general, he said he would expand this education throughout Vermont’s courts.

Hallquist also highlighted the importance of educating Vermonters about issues of racial equity.

“We also need to do honest training in our schools about the history of our America and what implicit bias looks like and what racism looks like,” she said.

Hallquist said if elected, she would rework legislation aimed at eradicating systemic racism in state government. The bill created a five-member Racial Equity Advisory Panel and a cabinet-level executive director of racial equity tasked with identifying and combating systemic racism in state institutions.

Scott originally vetoed the bill and replaced it with an executive order because he said a provision that would have constrained a governor’s ability to fire the person hired for the executive director role was unconstitutional.

He only agreed to sign the bill after lawmakers scrapped the provision, but Hallquist said she would add it back in.

“You don’t want the governor’s particular bias to influence what’s happening because this is really to get at the data and look at the data and put in the corrective action in order to solve some of these issues,” she said.

Pohl-Moore said the NAACP has already started planning its 2020 forums “so there will be no reason for anyone saying they can’t attend.”

“I’m trying to stay open and respect the fact that people have commitments and obligations,” she said. “My hope is that in the coming weeks the folks that did not show will be making a more explicit effort to discuss and develop a plan for how they would address the issues that are prevalent in our state.”

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