Chillicothe & Ross County – The annual “Candidates Night” by the local League of Women Voters is now available, in its new video format. It was premiered Tuesday night at OUC and is available on YouTube.
The League of Women Voters of Chillicothe-Ross introduced the candidates who were able to attend, and showed all 51 minutes of the video monologues of candidates in contested county and city races, in the Bennett Hall auditorium of Ohio University Chillicothe on October 7th, 2025.
Melissa Green, president of the local LWV, emceed the event and spoke with me afterward to summarize the presentation. Hear her in her own words in the interview video below.
Instead of the format of individual interviews from last fall, candidates gave their own introduction and stump speech in videos complied into a single video, all produced by the local “Rec W.”
Green said last year’s video format garnered 10,000 views, so the League felt it was a very successful format, with more people able to view the videos than attending a live event.
She said the League had two formats for the two kinds of contested candidacies on the ballot. For the four Municipal Court judge candidates, they gave five minutes to answer one of two questions:
- What steps will you take to ensure a fair trail for all?
- How will you handle cases with repeat offenders?
Chillicothe Council candidates had three minutes to answer one of three questions:
- What action will you take to respond to the financial loss connected to the closure of Pixelle (the paper mill)?
- How will you address the toxic plume (groundwater) issue related to the former Wear-Ever plant?
- How can you improve communications from council so that more citizens have access to understand the process?
Green also mentioned that the League has a podcast “Not Far Away” on the “PodBean” platform (audio-only). She said they had produced some episodes, then regrouped and took a class at OUC, and started to produce more.
Green said they asked uncontested candidates first to speak on the podcast and explain what their jobs are, which are often not known by lay people. PodBean offers free playback and downloads.
She also pointed out that the League is accepting donations towards the cost of production of the videos.
The Chillicothe-Ross League of Women Voters has a website, Facebook page, and YouTube account – with the 2025 Candidates Night YouTube video.
