SPOKANE, Wash. — City council candidates faced a spicy challenge this weekend at the first-ever “Spokane’s Spiciest Candidate Forum.”
Range Media hosted the event at The Guardian. The rules were simple: candidates ate five increasingly spicy foods while answering five questions that also got harder. Range says the goal for the event was to remove barriers towards being an informed voter, while holding politicians accountable.
The event featured three segments for each race for Spokane City Council. Incumbent Jonathan Bingle didn’t attend, so organizers put his photo on an empty chair. It meant his challenger Sarah Dixit got to sit on the hot seat a little longer for her segment.
For round two, things got personal, when Councilmember Zack Zappone confronted his challenger Christopher Savage.
“I called you someone that’s known you since we were 12, you didn’t have the decency to take two minutes to talk to me,” Zappone said.
Savage responded: “There are several times that we could talk. There are several times that he comes up to me… and barely even makes eye contact with me.”
The forum had a unique rule to prevent interruptions. Candidates could get up to two rebuttals, but only if they ate a habanero pepper first.
District 2 candidates used this system often to share different viewpoints.
Between the spicy reactions, candidates discussed homelessness, drug use and transgender rights.
The event sold out with about 150 attendees. Range said it hopes to make Spokane’s Spiciest a more regular event before future city council races.
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