Tonight beginning at 7 p.m. in the Bultman Center Gym, Northwestern will host four Republican presidential candidates. The candidates coming to campus are former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
The event is free for students and $10 for per ticket for the public. Doors will open for the event at 6:15 p.m. Lines are expected to form outside of the Bultman before the doors open. There will be a line especially designated for students.
President of the Campus Republicans Jesse Walnofer said the event will follow a forum format. Each candidate will answer questions for 20 minutes. A moderator will ask questions, but Walnofer believes students will also have a chance to ask some of their own questions.
“It won’t be much of a debate but more of a question and answer debate,” Walnofer said.
Santorum, Christie, Fiorina and Rubio are currently four of the 15 Republican presidential candidate hopefuls. The candidates are positioned across the spectrum in the race to become the Republican Presidential nominee. Rubio ranks number one with Fiorni now ranked fifth. Christie and Santorum appear further down the list with Christie coming in at ninth and Santorum coming in at twelfth.
Jeff VanDerWerff, a political science professor, said tonight’s event offers students a rare opportunity to become informed about the candidates and the presidential race at large.
“Most citizens don’t have this sort of access to candidates who could potentially be the Republican nominee,” VanDerWerff said. You just don’t have this chance in any other state… You can hear what [the candidates] say for yourself as opposed to some edited article or sound byte from the Internet.”
Walnofer adds that it isn’t every day four presidential candidates are this accessible. He encourages students of all political views to attend the event just like he would attend a Democratic event to stay informed about Democrat candidates.
“Even if you aren’t a Republican, it is good to expose yourself to the ideas of the Republicans to be familiar with their ideas,” Walnofer said. “That’s why there are 15 different candidates right now because there are so many different ideas within the party. If Hilary Clinton came to town, I would go.”
VanDerWerff said Republican candidates are interested in campaigning in northwest Iowa because of the high concentration of Republican voters, especially in Sioux County. If Republican candidates can poll well in northwest Iowa, it gives them a better chance to succeed in winning the Iowa Republican presidential primary in February.
The event was put together by the Sioux County Republicans and is sponsored at NW by the NW Republicans. The cost of general admission tickets will help the Sioux County Republicans offset the cost of putting on the event.
