On Thursday, Oct. 25, all four candidates for the office of governor will be attending a debate at the University of Wyoming.
Expected for the debate from 5:15-6:45 p.m. in the UW College of Arts and Sciences auditorium are candidates Mark Gordon, Republican; Mary Throne, Democrat; Dr. Rex Rammell, Constitutional; and Lawrence Struempf, Libertarian.
Over the past year a bevy of groups from across the campus have been closely working with one another to orchestrate a fine-tuned debate. Individuals spanning over five different organizations, as well as the Laramie Boomerang, Wyoming Public Radio, ASUW, Communications and Journalism and the League of Women Voters have worked diligently to craft a debate which will address the concerns of younger voters.
“There have already been a few gubernatorial debates in the past, and they did hit on some really important issues; public lands, energy etc., but there has not been a whole lot said that has directly related to younger voters.” said President of the Political Science club Colleen Floyd
To address this oversight, the organizers decided to open up the debate to the public and to allow for the layman on campus to submit questions; over 54 questions have been submitted as of the Monday before the debate. Once submissions close, it will be up to the intuition of the moderators, Laramie Boomerang Editor Joel Funk, Wyoming Public Radio News Director Bob Beck and Alex Mulhall, Associated Students of UW vice president and a political science student from Worland, as to which questions they shall ask of the candidates. As Floyd mentioned, emphasis will be placed on those inquiries which closely affect the lives of students on campus and across the state.
“I promise you that there will be no soft ball questions,” said Floyd with stern enthusiasm, “we aren’t going to press one candidate more than the other…they are all going to have to address the issues.”
After the event, candidates will be invited to attend a post-debate reception in the College of Business atrium from 6:45-8:15 p.m. A U.S. Senate candidate forum, which will be televised from Casper, will be available for attendees to watch in Room 121 of the College of Business.
For more information, follow the Political Science Club’s Facebook page, which posts regular updates on the progress of their efforts. Those who are particularly interested can also reach out to the League of Women Voters; UW School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies; UW Department of Communication and Journalism; the Laramie Boomerang; and Wyoming Public Media. Five UW student groups also are sponsors of the event: Political Science Club, College Republicans, Young Democrats, the Debate Club and Turning Point USA who are all co-sponsoring the event.
