Lake Charles, La — Senate Candidate Jeremy Stine was absent from a community forum featuring a senate candidate panel hosted Sunday night by well-known community organizations, including Cary Chavis Experience and The 337 Vote Project. That didn’t go unnoticed by attendees and participants. Event planners noted during the forum that Jeremy Stine didn’t even reply to the event invitation which was sent to him multiple times.

“It’s easy to tell what someone’s going to do: look at what they’ve already done. Jeremy Stine’s absence tonight speaks volumes about what we can expect from him if he’s elected,” said Dustin Granger, Stine’s competition in the November 13th election to fill the vacated senate district 27 office. “Maybe he thinks his name alone entitles him to this seat. I’m afraid I have to disagree with that, and so do voters in this district. Our people expect you to show up for them.”

The senate candidate panel featured questions about economic development, housing affordability, infrastructure investment, and of course, storm recovery and Covid-19 response. More than one year after Hurricane Laura, most families in Lake Charles are still fighting their insurance companies and federal red-tape to rebuild their homes and their lives.

“It’s important that we see recovery for all areas of this district. We have to recover together. And we have to hold these insurance companies accountable through serious industry reform,” said Granger. “Our people are living in insurance purgatory. We shouldn’t have to hire an attorney to be made whole after a lifetime of paying our premiums.”

Mayor Nic Hunter, Judge Ron Richard, Police Juror Michael T. Smith, School Board Member Desmond Wallace, and Bobby Holmes, representing District Attorney Stephen Dwight all made time to attend the event that Stine didn’t RSVP to or attend.