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Early voting has already begun, and voters will soon be asked to go to the polls to cast their ballots for a wide range of elected positions, including Rochester's Mayor.

Current Mayor Kim Norton is seeking a second term in office and is being challenged by Rochester businessman Britt Noser. Both candidates recently appeared on News Talk 1340 KROC-AM and 96.9 FM during the Rochester Today Show with Andy Brownell.

Norton and Noser spoke about their backgrounds, what led them to run for election and their qualifications. The rapid changes that have been taking place in Rochester due to the Destination Medical Center initiative and the pandemic were often brought up by the two candidates with Mayor Norton saying one of her strengths is her ability to listen to both sides to find solutions that will work for the future of the community.

"People are worried about having a bike lane or having a bus rapid transit. These are things that make people uncomfortable because they are changes"..."You have to look for those future solutions and try to make those transitions as comfortable for people as possible knowing they might not like the change."

Noser indicated it was some of those changes that prompted him to throw his hat in the ring and run for the office of Rochester Mayor.

"I ended up feeling more and more that some of the changes occurring in Rochester didn't feel like a natural evolution of what I'd experienced"..."a lot of these changes sort of seemed like the changes that took place in other cities across our country like Los Angeles and Minneapolis etcetera and it seemed like Rochester was adopting those ideas that led to the downfall there."

The discussions covered a wide range of issues and challenges facing Rochester, including crime and public safety, affordable housing, the vitality of downtown Rochester, and workforce issues.

Listen to the full interviews with both candidates in the player below:

Rochester Today will be hosting additional candidate forums prior to the election featuring the 8 people campaigning for 4 positions on the Rochester School Board.

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