The League of Women Voters of Lake County is hosting four upcoming candidates forums in the coming weeks, starting with a question-and-answer session Sunday with those vying for some of Lake County’s top elected positions.

League officials are hoping the public will turn out for the non-partisan forum so they can get to know candidates better before the March primaries, said League member Mary Mathews.

“This is part of our mission, really in educating voters and trying to get them involved in government,” Mathews said.

The forum will be  1:30 p.m. Sunday at the University Center of Lake County, 1200 University Center Road in Grayslake. Doors open at 1 p.m.

Audience members will be posing the questions to the candidates int the following contested races:

Clerk of the Circuit Court: Gerald Dietz (R) and Keith Brin (R)

Recorder of Deeds: Marty Blumenthal (R) and Beb Bednar (R)

Coroner: Incumbent Artis Yancey (D), Thomas Rudd (D),   Steve Newton (R), and Howard Cooper (R) for

State’s Attorney: Karen Williams (D), Reginald Mathews (D), Chris Kennedy (D), Mike Nerheim (R), Louise Hayes (R) and Bryan Winter (R).

“What’s interesting is to see how the candidates react,” said Mathews. “You get one idea of a candidate in their printed materials, but it still can make a big difference to see how they react in person. And you want to know if they really want to be a public servant, if they want to listen to the public, or if they have their own agenda.”

The League of Women Voters will hold forums three additional Sunday forums:

• Feb. 19 at Lake Bluff Elementary School, 350 West Washington Avenue, with candidates for state representative for the 58th District, state senate for the 29th District and Lake County board District 13
•  Feb. 26 at Highland Park Country Club, 1201 Park Avenue West, with candidates for the 10th Congressional District democrats and 29th District State Senate and state representative for the 58th district
• March 4 at the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Senior Center, 100 E Old Mill Road in Lake Forest, with candidates for Lake County Board District 12 as well as the first set of candidates at the Feb. 12 forum.