CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Capital City is the location for the planned April forum involving the three Democratic gubernatorial candidates in West Virginia.

So far, it’s the only debate-like event Booth Goodwin, a former U.S. attorney, Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall, 02) and Jim Justice, a businessman, have all agreed to participate in ahead of the primary election on Tuesday, May 10.

“That I’m not sure of,” Belinda Biafore, chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party, said when asked why more such forums and debates for the candidates were not being planned across West Virginia.

“It’s (the forum) something that the party got together and decided it was something we needed to do. I believe there will be other events, we’re just not sponsoring any right now.”

The Democratic gubernatorial forum will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 16 at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Charleston.

Media coverage of the forum had not been finalized as of Tuesday morning.

“I think it’s important for the voters to see what the candidates have to offer,” Biafore said of the event.

“One thing I want to do is showcase these three candidates because they’ve all got great ideas, they’ve all got a good plan and I think the voters need to hear what that is and how they plan to move West Virginia forward.”

Kessler, who has issued multiple unanswered debate calls to Justice dating back to mid-2015 before Goodwin even entered the race, said his participation depends on the format.

“I’ve agreed to participate on the condition that it is a real debate, that we’re not force-fed questions in advance and we just give speeches on couches sitting across from one another,” Kessler said on Twitter.

“I hope my friends Booth and Jeff are ready to talk turkey at this debate about who can truly create jobs and bring companies to invest in West Virginia,” Justice said in a statement issued Monday.

Goodwin responded to Justice’s statement on Twitter: “I don’t know what Jim’s talking about. We need to talk about a lot more than turkey,” Goodwin said.

Two months ahead of the primary, Biafore said many Democratic voters have not yet made a choice for governor.

A three-person race, she said, could help drive voter turnout.

“I think that along with the nonpartisan races that are on the ballot, we ought to get boost. Usually, anytime there’s a presidential election we always get a bigger turnout and we’ve been working really, really hard on a program that’s going to turn people out,” Biafore said.

For the first time, judges, including a Supreme Court justice, are being elected in May on a nonpartisan ballot.

The deadline to register to vote in West Virginia’s primary election is April 19.