A meet-and-greet, Q-and-A session featuring local candidates on the Nov. 2 general election ballot in Warren County — perhaps the only such event before Election Day — is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday at the courthouse.

Hosted by the Vicksburg Branch of the NAACP, the Vicksburg Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and the Mississippi Chapter of Blacks in Government, the session will allow two to three minutes for participants to make opening statements, said Bobbie Bingham Morrow of the NAACP’s local organization. Questions will be taken by the candidates, including those the host groups allow to be written on cards before the forum, Morrow said.

Vicksburg Warren School District 1 Trustee Jerry Boland and challenger Bryan Pratt have been contacted, as have all seven confirmed candidates for justice court in Warren County’s Central District, Morrow said. That list is comprised of incumbent James E. Jefferson Jr., Vicksburg police Sgt. Beverly Prentiss, retired police Lt. Dora Smith, former constable Rudolph Walker, former U.S. Navy officer Henry Phillips, NRoute operations manager Audrey Jones Jackson and Lester R. Smith, who was jailed in August on sexual battery and felony escape charges.

Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Tyree Irving and challenger Ceola James of Vicksburg have also been contacted, Morrow said.

Both major party candidates running for Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District have been contacted, though Republican challenger Bill Marcy said late Tuesday his campaign will participate only if U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson shows up. Thompson’s staffers have pledged a representative will attend Friday’s forum, Morrow said. A Reform Party candidate, Ashley Norwood of Canton, rounds out the congressional ballot.

Campaign finance reports available this week show Thompson, the 17-year Democratic incumbent in the race, has raised nearly $1.6 million, spent $790,278 and had about $2 million in cash on hand through Sept. 30. Marcy’s first report of tangible fundraising showed $39,466 raised, $25,611 spent and $13,855 cash on hand. Neither reported campaign debt.

One local slot up for election, the school trustee seat for District 5, was essentially decided Oct. 1 when Sally Bullard was the only person to qualify.