BATON ROUGE - Early voting begins Saturday for the special election to choose the next judge in Baton Rouge to replace Wilson Fields.

Tuesday night, the candidates answered questions at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church about why they should be elected.

Vicky Jones, Dele Adebamiji, and Vernon Wesley Thomas are all running for the 19th Judicial District court judge.

Thomas has experience working as a prosecutor, public defender, and private defense attorney. He says he's running for 19th JDC judge because he wants to serve the community.

"I think the people of Baton Rouge deserve the best that this community has to offer, and I want people to know that their faith deserves to be rewarded," Thomas said.

Adebamiji has been practicing law in Louisiana for over three decades. Both criminal and civil cases. He says it was his experience that led him to throw his hat in the race.

"I've been practicing for over 32 years. So, I got some experience, you can't teach experience," Adebamiji said.

Jones has practiced law for the last 33 years, working as a prosecutor and defense attorney. She currently serves as an adjunct professor at Southern University Law Center. Jones says it was her interest in helping the community as a whole.

"As opposed to one client at a time," she said.

We asked the candidates, if they were elected, how they would ensure transparency while serving on the bench...

Thomas says his platform is FACE: fairness, accountability, compassion, and efficiency.

"The accountability part means I'm holding myself to a higher standard, and when you start there, everything trickles down from there," he said.

Jones says constituents have access to disciplinary records..

"I mean, anybody can look at the Louisiana State Bar Association website, and you can find anything that anybody has done that they have been disciplined for," she said.

Adebamiji says he will simply follow the law.

"If you rely on your faith and you do what the law says to do, you won't get in trouble. I'm not perfect, but you know, I strive very hard to make sure that I'm as transparent as I can be," he said.

Candidate Elzie Alford Jr. is also running for the 19th JDC judge seat, but did not participate in the forum.