JOE CURRY
Staff Reporter
The Delaware Debates, general-election debates held biennially at the university, began in 2010 in collaboration between the university’s Center for Political Communication (CPC) and Delaware Public Media. They allowed voters, particularly students, to raise questions and hear from candidates prior to elections. For the first time since they began, they will not be held.
“The University of Delaware’s Center for Political Communication (UD CPC) made the decision to sunset Delaware Debates in 2025. The CPC changed leadership in 2024 and shifted its focus to a research mission dedicated to graduate and undergraduate education in political communication and away from hosting large events such as candidate debates,” Rick Deadwyler, vice president of public affairs at the university, said in a statement to The Review.
The cancellation of the Delaware Debates marks the end of a critical event for local Delawarean voters. Although there were in-person events, the candidates had not participated in a traditional debate. This prompted Dr. Mike Katz, the republican nominee for Senate who is challenging incumbent Sen. Chris Coons, and multiple news outlets to call for a debate between the two candidates.
“Delaware voters deserve better,” Katz said in a press release issued by his campaign on Oct. 14. “They deserve to see us on the same stage, answering the same difficult questions and defending our records, policies and solutions.”
Following the cancellation, members of the university’s chapters of the College Republicans and the College Democrats attempted to have both candidates on campus. Coons and Katz were invited to debate.
In the same press release, the Katz campaign announced that they accepted an invitation to a proposed debate from the College Democrats and College Republicans while Coons had denied the offer.
“When College Democrats and College Republicans unite to organize a debate and the incumbent Senator declines, that is news,” Katz said.
Sophie Douglas, a junior at the university and president of the College Democrats, was one of the students attempting to organize the event.
“We always think it’s a really good idea to have students have the ability to meet elected officials,” Douglas said.
The groups started planning the event, reaching out to candidates and figuring out logistics when trouble started to emerge.
“I would say it was a miscommunication about some of the planning logistics of it, and whether or not it would be feasible or not,” Douglas said.
According to College Democrats, the proposed debate did not happen for reasons involving scheduling, miscommunication and student interest in the event. They made a particular note that there was not an official proposal between the two groups. The College Republicans did not cite the same issues, releasing a press statement on social media on Oct. 14.
This press release criticized the Coons campaign for declining the invite to the proposed debate while applauding Katz for accepting the opportunity. It also claimed that the Coons campaign was disrespectful to students who reached out. The press release closed by announcing an event with Katz, set for Oct. 19.
“Dr. Katz accepted a debate at any time, in any place and with any format on campus,” the College Republicans said in the statement posted to Instagram. “The Coons campaign scolded individuals for simply reaching out to gauge interest in this debate.”
This accusation was refuted by the College Democrats, who responded with their own press release posted to Instagram on Oct. 15.
“There was no official joint proposal presented by both organizations. The Coons’ campaign did not decline a debate,” the press release said. “It is disappointing that a miscommunication between college students has been misconstrued and brought to social media.”
Coons has been on the university’s campus on multiple occasions, as opposed to Katz, who has not been featured at any official events. This pushed the College Republicans to still try and host Katz on campus prior to the election.
“We decided just to focus on having Dr. Katz at more of a town hall forum,” Kaitlin Houck, the vice president and treasurer of the College Republicans, said. “Since they’ve had the opportunity to ask the current senator, Chris Coons, questions before.”
Pivoting from the debate, the College Republicans hosted Katz in an open-forum style event, in which students and Delawareans were invited to ask the candidate questions before the Nov. 3 election. For over an hour, Katz responded to questions focused on his personal political views along with policies he wishes to enact if elected.
Questions about issues in higher education were brought up frequently by the students in the audience. Katz said he wanted to invest more in research and education, as they give the United States an advantage over other countries.
Political polarization was also discussed at great length. Katz criticized the current media landscape and the Trump administration, using them as examples of the increase in editorialization of politics and media. He also called for people to challenge the systems that are in place.
The event, despite not matching the size of the Delaware Debates, gave students the opportunity to talk to a candidate whom most had not heard from.
“Delaware, which is such a small state, I feel like they have more of those opportunities in general,” Douglas said. “So whenever we can find ways to bring them to campus or even bring students together to do that, I think it is really wonderful.”
