Citizens Clean Elections' Gubernatorial Debate is Only a Few Days Away

PHOENIX, Sept. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Arizona Gubernatorial debate, the most important debate in the series sponsored this election year by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC), will air at 5 p.m. on KAET Channel 8, Arizona PBS, Monday, Sept. 24. According to Arizona PBS, the gubernatorial debate is one of the most anticipated and watched shows. Moreover, this year C-SPAN has expressed interest in airing the debate again before the General Election. The estimated live-viewing audience on Sept. 24 is more than 30,000, not including those who watch the debate later online which oftentimes surpasses the live viewing audience. These estimates don't include viewership from public television sister stations across the state who also have the option of broadcasting the debate locally. 

Commenting on the origins of CCEC-sponsored debates, Citizens Clean Elections, Executive Director Tom Collins said, "When Arizona voters established Clean Elections as an independent program in 1998, they wanted to ensure that voters could connect with candidates directly.  The Clean Elections comprehensive debate offerings deliver on that promise."

Subsequently, as a means of reaching as many Arizona voters as possible, CCEC enlisted broadcast partner Arizona PBS to host and broadcast all statewide office debates. According to Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Voter Education Director, Gina Roberts, "Historically, some of the exchanges during the debates leading up the General Election are highly memorable. The stakes are high and the discussion is so important. We are doing everything we can to make it easy for voters to participate in real-time or at their convenience by offering the option to submit questions on our website and by archiving all of the debate videos on our website." 

Arizona's gubernatorial debate sponsored by the CCEC includes all three qualified nominees including Republican incumbent Doug Ducey, Democratic Party challenger David Garcia and Green Party challenger Angel Torres. The debate will be moderated by Arizona PBS veteran journalist Ted Simons, who is known for facilitating the most meaningful discussions possible. Simons often opens the debates by saying, "This is not a formal exercise but an open exchange of ideas and an opportunity for 'give and take' between candidates running for an important state office. As such, interjections, even interruptions are allowed, provided that all sides get a fair shake and we do our best to see that this happens."

The Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC) has purposely established a variety of ways that voters can participate in candidate debates. As the only entity in the state that hosts candidate debates across the state, the CCEC makes it a priority to create an environment for maximum viewing. In today's 21^st Century, fast-paced lifestyle that means a multi-pronged approach including live broadcast on the CCEC Facebook page as well as live broadcast on public television. These avenues are all employed to varying degrees for each debate. All debates are archived on the CCEC website for easy watching later.

SOURCE Citizens Clean Elections Commission

Related Links

http://www.azcleanelections.gov

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