Group lobbies unsuccessfully for Penn to host gubernatorial debate

The Pennsylvania gubernatorial election is shaping up to be one of the most important local elections of 2014, and a new student-led organization has been trying to place Penn’s campus at the center of it.

Penn for Pennsylvania, a student group recently started by three freshmen hall mates, has been lobbying both campaigns to allow Penn’s Annenberg Center to present a gubernatorial debate.

While it is highly unlikely that the debate will be moved from its current location at the studios of CBS-affiliate KYW-TV, the students are proposing that the Oct. 1 debate be relocated to the Annenberg Center.

“Why do it in a studio when you could do it somewhere live?” asked College freshman Jacob Gardenswartz , who is one of the three freshmen involved in Penn for Pennsylvania’s effort to bring the gubernatorial candidates to campus. “We thought it was a really unique idea, and I was definitely a little skeptical at the beginning — like there is no way anything is going to come of this — but we decided to just go for it.”

While Annenberg remains willing to hold the debate on campus — the center agreed to keep Oct 1. open for the debate — it might be too late to make the change.

“It’s a matter of cost and timing,” said Michael J. Rose, managing director of the Annenberg Center . “It’s doable, but it’s very expensive once you involve TV and radio. ... It would be great to have any type of debate here in general — I think that is very important — but it’s all about the logistics behind it.”

An event of this size calls for high production costs. Presenting a gubernatorial debate requires obtaining the proper television, lighting and radio equipment, which the host, KYW-TV, would need to bring from their studio.

“For example, when [Stephen] Colbert was here a few years ago, it took a full week of set up,” Rose added. “It was huge.”

According to Gardenswartz , a representative from Democratic candidate Tom Wolf’s campaign expressed interest in holding the debate on Penn’s campus instead of at the news station. Representatives for both Wolf and Republican Governor Tom Corbett did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

With such short notice, KYW-TV hasn’t opened up to the idea of moving their debate from their studios to Annenberg. A representative from KYW-TV confirmed that they have no plans to relocate the debate.

Penn for Pennsylvania hasn’t given up on trying to move the debate, and “started talking to Tom Wolf again and to the incumbent governor and seeing if there was anyway we could put some pressure on the studio,” Gardenswartz said. Penn for Pennsylvania has also reached out to former Pennsylvania Governor and Penn lecturer Ed Rendell to help bring a gubernatorial debate to Penn.

Although Penn for Pennsylvania’s efforts to move the Oct. 1 debate have been unfruitful, the group is not giving up in their efforts to engage the gubernatorial candidates with Penn’s campus.

“We had still made some headway and some good contacts, so we are also still in the process of trying to plan something,” Gardenswartz added. “There are always possibilities ... and we would love to be able to have the candidates come and speak to us. Maybe even if it isn’t in a true debate style, but just an open forum where students can ask questions and get answers from the candidates.”

The Annenberg Center remains open and hopeful to the idea of hosting a political debate in the future.

“It would be great to have any type of debate here in general,” Rose said. “If it could be on Penn’s campus, I would guess that all parties would embrace the idea ... and if we could get a presidential debate that would be great too.”

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