The Tampa Chamber of Commerce held it's 2014 Political Hob Knob Wednesday night at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
Dozens of candidates for various offices took part in the event.
The forum included candidates running for local offices like school board and county commission to judicial contests, legislative seats and the Governor's race.
"It's a way for the business community to come out and meet the candidates and get to know them as more than a flier in the mail or a quick commercial or a yard sign and it's a way for the candidates to meet the business community and hear what issues are important to us," said Bob Rohrlack, Tampa Chamber of Commerce President.
People attending the event said it gave them a chance to meet some candidates they weren't as familiar with before.
"Oftentimes I go to the polls and I will look at the judges and go "Well, that's a nice name" and I really don't want to do that because it's so important to support our judicial system, " said Cheryl Eagan.
People said it was a good opportunity to educate themselves as voters.
"Just to understand what their focus is, what their vision is for our future in education, healthcare and a number of topics that are of interest to me at this time, " said Arlene Williams.
Another issue generating a lot of buzz among the business community was transportation.
"If we can't get around, people aren't going to want to be here and it's only going to get worse if we ignore it at this point, " said Rohrlack.
Voters said it was nice to have so many candidates under one roof and to interact with them face to face.
"You get a vibe. You know, you can tell everybody's got something they want to talk about but you get a vibe from them that really shows their true nature I think," said Pam Sanders.
People at the event also participated in a straw poll. You can see the results here.