Yesterday, eight hopefuls contesting the At-Large special election on April 26 gathered for the first candidate forum of the season. Josh Lopez, Bryan Weaver, Jacque Patterson, Stanley Mayes, Vincent Orange, Alan Page, Patrick Mara and Interim Councilmember Sekou Biddle took turns answering a host of questions ranging from statehood to schools and transportation to taxes. (You can watch the whole forum here.)

The queries were diverse and incisive, but the sheer number of candidates and necessary time limits stifled discussion and made it hard to tell some of the challengers apart. Thankfully, this is but the first forum of the campaign, and we’ll be interviewing the various candidates as the season continues. (Biddle was first, Lopez is up next week.)

For now, please enjoy our brief rundown of last night’s forum after the jump, read NBC 4’s P.J. Orvetti for his take and peruse all the tweets from during the event.