While no concrete plans for a 2024 Republican presidential debate have been announced, New Hampshire Institute of Politics Executive Director Neil Levesque has confirmed that if there is a debate, it is likely to take place on Jan. 18.

Saint Anselm College president Joseph Favazza said that all athletic events in Sullivan Arena for two weeks in January and that conference and events staff are ready to go if and when a decision is made. 

Levesque said it is a question of whether the Republican National Committee or the Republican State Committee announces a debate. “We do have ABC News coming here to review the area with our partner, WMUR TV… If a debate is announced, we will be the location of it.

If the RNC hosts a debate, there may be fewer candidates on the stage due to increasingly higher qualifying standards. “If the National Republican Party says we don’t want to host a debate, then that opens the door for the state Republican Party to host a debate perhaps with more candidates. And if that’s the case, that might actually be more appealing to some of the big news outlets,” Favazza explained.

While a debate would be the main event, Levesque said that there would be “all kinds of network activity and many things happening in the state,” which would open the door to many paid jobs for students. “There’s all kinds of different opportunities for students to be involved and it’s a great time to be in New Hampshire,” he said. 

“If you are anyone in criminal justice, politics, philosophy, communications, business, you should be here and participate in some way during the primary, because it’s going to be the most fascinating thing that’s going to happen,” he continued. Any student interested in work related to the primary or a possible debate should contact Levesque. 

The last major political event on campus was the CNN town hall with former president Donald Trump in May of 2023, which sparked an outcry from students and faculty. While Trump has not made an appearance at any Republican debates so far, there is a possibility that he could decide to come to Saint A’s if he met the qualifications of the debate host.

President Favazza said he spoke with many people back in May who were upset about Trump’s presence, but that he does not foresee the same effect if the former president returned for a debate since he would be just one of many candidates, not the only headliner.

“I think with the townhall format, you have the focus really on an individual candidate, whereas the debate is really bringing all the candidates and so if his campaign were to say he wants to participate and he meets the criteria, once we say we’re going to host we don’t really have a say,” he explained.

Favazza said that these types of events demonstrate Saint Anselm College and the NHIOP as leaders of political discourse, encouraging candidates to answer to voters. “That was one of the reasons we did the town hall because we felt that if Trump is going to be a major candidate again, let’s force him to answer the questions,” he said.

President Joe Biden and former President Trump continue to hold top spots in their respective party’s favorability, setting the stage for another highly divisive election. 

“Every election is different and this is the strangest one because we have someone who’s for all intents and purposes and incumbent and the incumbent who are basically choosing to not really participate so much here,” Levesque said.

This election is also unique in the state of New Hampshire because Secretary of State David Scanlan defied the Democratic National Committee by setting the state primary for Jan, 23, retaining the first-in-the-nation tradition.

Levesque said that for Granite Staters, there is no controversy because they are conducting a state-run primary. “The party bosses in Washington and the Democratic Party can say what they want about this election, but we’re going to have an election and we’re going to count the ballots. If the Democrat National Committee decides not to count our ballots and not count the votes of Democrats who participate in an election, that’s up to them. But we’re doing it.”

As the campaign season ramps up and political tensions may increase, President Favazza encourages all members of the Saint Anselm Community to promote respectful dialogue. “We have to learn how to engage with one another in a respectful way to listen, but, and to disagree, but to do so in a way that that is about ideas and not persons,” he said.