With less than 2,000 registered voters living in Selma’s Ward 3, and the fact that eight candidates have entered the race to fill an open council position representing the Ward, saying the election could come down to one or two votes is not just an understatement, but is quite likely.

That’s why Tuesday might prove to be a crucial day in the race to fill the vacant position on Selma’s city council left open when Dr. Monica Newton moved.

A candidate forum hosted by the Olde Towne Association and another hosted by the Alabama New South Coalition gave candidates the chance to share their views for the future of Ward 3 and what issues they saw as the most pressing in the historic district.

“This was a very good event. We couldn’t have asked for better weather and had a great turnout,” Olde Towne Association president Norm Trotter said following the event that attracted nearly 80 Ward 3 residents. “I think we had some good positions presented by the candidates and it was nice to see that many of their responses lined up with the concerns many of our residents have.”

Seven of the eight registered candidates on the ballot for the Tuesday, May 24 election were in attendance at the Olde Towne Association’s event.

Five of the eight candidates attended the event hosted by the Alabama New South Coalition, which was scheduled later in the evening.

In New South’s case, the group used interviews with the candidates to help give its membership information to help the group vote on which of the candidates to endorse in the election.

Candidates Sherrette Spicer, Gwen Brown, Pam West, Tom Headley and Garfield Clarke attended New South’s forum.

“It all depends on the interviews if we choose to endorse a candidate or not,” chapter president Sam Walker said before the meeting started. “We wanted everyone to get involved in the process.”

Walker notified the Times-Journal late Thursday evening that the organization had voted to endorse Spicer in Tuesday’s election.

Regardless of the forum’s structure, both events brought up the same topics.

Both groups stressed that safety and code enforcement has been and remains the number one issue facing residents in the diverse district.

Other topics discussed included property owners who own multiple homes within the district and do little to keep the property up and preservation of the historic homes and areas within the Ward.

Spicer, Headley, West, Brown, Clarke, Greg Bjelke and Karl Lewis were the seven of the eight candidates who attended the Olde Towne forum. The only registered candidate not to appear at either event was David Cothran.

In the end, Trotter said there was one question he had hoped to ask but was unable to before time ran out.

“I was sincere when I told them that only one of them was going to win,” Trotter said. “I wanted to ask, ‘If you don’t win, will you continue to work for the betterment of Ward 3?’ That’s pretty dang important.”

Times-Journal staff writer Desiree Taylor contributed to this report.