The League of Women Voters of El Dorado County canceled its District 4 supervisor candidate forum after Ted Gaines, the top vote-getter in the June primary, declined to participate.

LWV President Elizabeth Leslie-Gassaway said in a Sunday, Sept. 13 letter that the organization began contacting Gaines in mid-August and continued outreach through Monday, Sept. 7, when Matt Cox declined the invitation on Gaines' behalf, the Mountain Democrat reported.

Gaines told the Mountain Democrat he has participated in forums in earlier campaigns but sees little value in them. He called the events filled with "canned, planted or slanted questions" and said he prefers meeting voters one-on-one in their homes and businesses.

His opponent, Gina Posey, called the decision "especially disrespectful in a local race." Posey said she had challenged Gaines in July to participate in four public forums across District 4 after he skipped similar events during the primary.

Gaines also skipped the primary forum.

He did not attend the LWV's April 30 event in Coloma. Posey and the other two primary candidates, Greg Clark and Robert Deitz, both participated.

Primary results and the Nov. 3 runoff

Gaines earned 47.04% of the District 4 vote in the June primary. Posey finished second with 24.71%. Clark received 18.98% and Deitz 8.40%. Nearly 60% of registered voters cast ballots.

The two now face each other in a Nov. 3 runoff.

Gaines has held public office since 1997, starting on Roseville's Planning Commission. He later served on the Placer County Board of Supervisors, in the state Legislature as an assemblyman and senator, and on the California Board of Equalization, where he is term-limited, according to a Mountain Democrat candidate profile. He lives in Shingle Springs and runs Gaines Insurance in El Dorado Hills.

District 4 covers Rescue, Cool, Pilot Hill, Garden Valley, Greenwood, Coloma, Lotus and the Georgetown Divide, along with parts of unincorporated Placerville, Shingle Springs, Cameron Park and El Dorado Hills.

Leslie-Gassaway said the LWV remains willing to host a forum if Gaines provides a date that works for him. No alternative date has been announced.