From television and social media ads to direct mail pieces, candidates are campaigning for their respective offices. Debates, too, have been held—the most prominent of which has been for the Illinois governor position. With thanks to Director of Debate Shanna Carlson to lead the way, the School of Communication helped students make sense of the issues and candidates.
The Gubernatorial Debate took place in the Braden Auditorium at the Bone Student Center on Thursday, October 6, which was broadcast statewide. Carlson arranged with others to host a watch party and student panel discussion after the Gubernatorial Debate.
The candidates for Illinois Governor, the incumbent Governor J.B. Pritzker (Democrat), debated Republican nominee and State Senator Darren Bailey. The debate hosted at ISU was the first of two debates, each debate lasting one hour. The 2022 Illinois Gubernatorial Debate was sponsored by AARP and Illinois and Illinois State University.
Due to the limitation of tickets being sold for the debate, Carlson hosted a watch party during the debate via livestream and a student panel led discussion after the debate in the Prairie Room at the Bone Student Center. The watch party and student discussion were open to all ISU students, while the student panel was comprised of six student candidates by the School of Communication, the Department of Politics and Government, the Student Government Association, and the Center for Civic Engagement.
Carlson worked with Illinois State University’s Center for Civic Engagement, Department of Politics and Government, the Office of the President, Forensics Union, School of Communication, and Student Government Association to plan the watch party and discussion.
The student panel discussion served many benefits to students, including boosting student involvement in politics, campaigning students to register to vote, and informing students of mail-in ballots. Back in 2020, the School of Communication, organized by Carlson and Dr. Joseph Zompetti, held a debate watch party of the Presidential debate, which facilitated learning and political awareness.
“Just as the student discussion did in the 2020 presidential debate, this event helped create a more informed body of voters,” Carlson said.
Before the debate, Carlson discussed topics such as common argumentative fallacies; Dr. Carl Palmer, associate professor in the Department of Politics and Government, covered current and common issues in politics that affect students; and Harriett Steinbach, COM alum and assistant director of ISU’s Center for Civic Engagement, explained the importance of voting in midterm elections.
The general election for Governor of Illinois takes place on November 8, 2022. To register to vote, visit https://ova.elections.il.gov.
