Live-streamed Congressional Debate Attracted Uninvited Candidates to Stockton's Campus

A view from Stockton's event center where the debate was live streamed to hundreds of overflow attendees.

Crazy for Congress
Kayla Castelli

On Wednesday, October 10, Stockton University hosted the livestreamed 2018 New Jersey 2nd Congressional District Debate between democratic candidate Jeff Van Drew and republican candidate Seth Grossman. Photograph of the livestream view of the debate

Due to overpopulation of attendees, students, staff, and neighborhood locals were directed into the university’s event room to livestream the debate along with many others on Channel WACP 4 and on websites of the Hughes Center and the press of Atlantic City. Stockton University’s President Harvey Kesselman adds that it is the “first Youth Center event to ever to be brought broadcast live on television. We are also live-streaming the debate on several websites.”

Some attendees were introduced to another candidate for the election who was not invited to Stockton University for the debate. Anthony Parisi Sanchez was one of four independent candidates who was not invited to debate against the republican and democrat candidates. Sanchez handed out his card to many of the audience members and made a lasting impression to “always question authority.”

Questions asked at the debate included those of which that came from Stockton’s students, faculty, and general public. These questions included topics that ranged from illegal immigrants, to national debt, and many more in between. Not once, but twice, moderator Mike Klein almost cut Seth Grossman’s 30 second response. Also, Jeff Van Drew went over his 30 second time slot multiple times and repeatedly was asked to stop speaking passed the time limit.

According to Grossman, the United States’ debt is 10 times the amount of its income. He believes “you can’t sustain that [...] we have to face up to this sooner or later and there are no easy answers, we have to talk about it.” On the other hand, Jeff Van Drew counters this by saying “We need to deal with that issue, it is a serious issue and that’s why we need like-minded people to come together [...] that want to come up with real answers [...] you know what the answer is not, it’s not to hurt people and it’s not to hurt senior citizens and I will not support hurting social security and medicare…”

The last statements of both candidates contrasted vastly. Jeff Van Drew states how he “want[s] to be your congressman. [he] want[s] to be a really really really good congressman. [He] want[s] to be a congressman you’re proud of regardless of where you come from, who you are…” Seth Grossman ends with a final note declaring his “disappointment that none of the Stockton students asked any questions about the danger of having open borders [...] worried about politicizing everything in America from fake impeachment charges based on no evidence whatsoever [...] I’m surprised that the students are not concerned about these things. I’m hoping that maybe Stockton University with some new leadership will have diversity…” Both of the candidates and audience were appreciated for coming out and attending the debate.