Members of the UNM community will hear from candidates running for statewide offices Oct. 13-17 at the New Mexico Daily Lobo’s inaugural General Election Debates series.
Confirmed candidates include Democratic Land Commissioner Ray Powell; Democratic State Sen. Tim Keller, who is running for state auditor; and Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who is running for Secretary of State. Democratic candidate for state treasurer Tim Eichenberg and Republican candidate for state auditor Robert Aragon have tentatively agreed.
Jyllian Roach, Daily Lobo editor-in-chief, said she saw a need to help connect students with the political process.
“I’m hoping that by bringing it to campus more students will be interested and will want to have a voice and hear what these candidates have to say, and become more actively involved in politics,” Roach said. “That’s a big part of what journalism is supposed to do — we’re supposed to encourage civil dialogue and civic engagement.”
A Daily Lobo staff member will moderate the debates. Each candidate will be given three minutes for both an opening and closing statement.
Questions will focus on issues related to UNM. Each question will allow a two-minute response and a one-minute rebuttal.
“It will be wonderful for UNM students; everyone kind of always forgets about the students,” said Matthew Liguori, a University of New Mexico alum. “Whether the candidates have accepted or declined shows how much they actually value the student vote and the student voice.”
The debates will be held in front of a live audience and be recorded. Tickets are available online. For questions, email Roach at editorinchief@dailylobo.com.
The debate lineup includes:
Secretary of state candidates on Oct. 13
State auditor candidates on Oct. 14.
State land commissioner candidates on Oct. 15
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State treasurer candidates on Oct. 16
Attorney general candidates on Oct. 17
All debates will be held in room 163 of the Anthropology Building from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
If a candidate declines the invitation but the opponent accepts, the candidate who appears will field questions for the hour.
Neither of the candidates for attorney general — Democrat Hector Balderas and Republican Susan Riedel — has responded to the invitation. The only candidate to decline the invitation so far is Republican candidate for land commissioner Aubrey Dunn. Dunn did not respond to calls seeking comment.
The gubernatorial candidates were not invited to the inaugural debates on the UNM campus.
“We kept it to races that get less attention,” Roach said.
