Running for City Council continues to teach me things about politics that I never expected to learn.
Here is the latest one:
Apparently, you can have a candidate forum without inviting all the candidates.
On August 17, 2026, approximately 50 local residents gathered in the Multi-Purpose Room at Veterans Auditorium for what was described as a Culver City City Council candidate forum, hosted by Culver City Democrats United (CCDU).
There was just one problem.
I am a candidate for Culver City City Council, and I was never invited.
I didn't decline the invitation.
I didn't forget to respond.
I didn't have a scheduling conflict.
I wasn't invited.
Why does that matter?
Political organizations are free to support candidates they agree with. They are free to endorse candidates. They are free to hold events and invite whomever they want.
But words matter.
When residents hear the phrase “City Council candidate forum,” I think most people would reasonably assume that the candidates running for City Council were at least given an opportunity to participate.
If a candidate is missing, people might naturally wonder:
Did the candidate decline?
Did the candidate not bother to show up?
Was the candidate too busy?
Did the candidate simply not care?
In my case, none of those explanations would be correct.
I wasn't given the opportunity to participate.
And that creates another problem
Candidate forums aren't just about candidates.
They are supposed to help voters.
Residents should have opportunities to hear different viewpoints, ask difficult questions, compare candidates, and decide for themselves whom they want representing them at City Hall.
That becomes harder when organizations decide which candidates voters get to hear before the conversation even begins.
Perhaps CCDU had a reason for not inviting me. I don't know because nobody contacted me.
And that's really the point.
You don't have to agree with me
I don't expect every political organization in Culver City to agree with my positions.
In fact, disagreement is healthy.
Invite me.
Ask me difficult questions.
Challenge my positions.
Let the other candidates challenge them too.
Then let the residents in the room decide whether my answers make sense.
That seems far more useful than simply leaving a candidate out of the conversation.
This is exactly why I'm writing this series
One reason I started The Strange World of Politics was to show residents what running for local office actually looks like from the inside.
There are forms.
There are endorsements.
There are political clubs.
There are interviews.
There are questionnaires.
There are candidate forums.
And, apparently, there are candidate forums that some candidates don't even know are happening.
Most residents never see this side of an election.
They see the mailers.
They see the lawn signs.
They see the endorsements.
Eventually, they see the names on their ballot.
But there is an entire political process happening before Election Day that helps determine which candidates get heard, which candidates get introduced to voters, and which candidates receive institutional support.
I think voters deserve to know how that process works.
My invitation remains open
If Culver City Democrats United would like to invite me to a future forum, I would be happy to participate.
The same goes for other Culver City organizations.
You don't have to endorse me.
You don't have to agree with me.
You don't even have to like my positions.
Just give me the opportunity to answer the questions.
Then let Culver City voters make up their own minds.
That shouldn't be a controversial idea.
But then again, this is The Strange World of Politics.
Dr. Franklin Carvajal
Candidate for Culver City City Council
CarvajalForCulverCity.com
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