Gov. Jim Doyle announced Friday that he will host a series of Democratic presidential candidate town hall forums leading up to the Wisconsin primary.

The “Working for Wisconsin” forums offer the opportunity for Wisconsin residents to meet the candidates and hear their plans for the future of the country, focusing primarily on job creation and economic development.

“These forums will be an important resource for Wisconsin voters who are just now beginning to choose which candidate they’ll support,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Kim Warkentin said. “It has been decades since Wisconsin played this big of a role in the presidential nomination process. With Wisconsin’s primary fast approaching, it is also important for the candidates to spend time in Wisconsin addressing the issues that matter most to Wisconsin voters.”

The forum event will be an hour-long question and answer session with an individual candidate. Each of the nine Democratic presidential candidates has been invited to participate in forums to be held between Nov. 10 and Feb. 17. Locations and schedules will be made available as they are scheduled.

Since Wisconsin moved its primary up to Feb. 17, it has become a major swing state in deciding who will be nominated at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004.

“Wisconsin has a lot at stake in next year’s election,” Warkentin said. “The issues of the upcoming campaign — job loss, economic development and skyrocketing health care costs — are the biggest issues in our state. Wisconsin voters will have a great deal of influence over who our next president will be, and these forums will have an impact on who Wisconsin chooses.”

Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Chris Lato said they would not directly participate in the forums to offer counter-presence. But when the candidates are in town, he said representatives of the Republican Party will be available to answer questions.

Lato also said that the Democratic presidential candidates have no viable plan for economic development.

“They are all calling for tax increases,” Lato said. “It’s a horribly bad idea. I feel they have nothing else to offer. Their ideas … are the wrong direction for America.”

Lato added that President George W. Bush, on the other hand, is offering an economic turnaround.

“His key platform … is that American people keep more of their money and stimulate the economy.”

Sen. John Edwards, D-North Carolina, will be the first candidate to participate in the forum. Edwards will campaign in Wisconsin Nov. 17.

“I want to take steps to keep jobs in Wisconsin and across the country. ‘Made in America’ should be more than just a slogan. It should be our guiding principle until every American can find work,” Edwards said in response to his economic plan.

DPW and Wispolitics.com, a non-partisan statewide web-based government and political news service, will sponsor the events. The exact time and location for the town hall forum has not yet been announced.