May 03, 2011
Story by Doug Minor
Every four years, Saint Anselm has a tradition of extending our Benedictine hospitality to presidential primary candidates, the news media, and the general public for nationally televised debates.
Saint Anselm College will once again play this important role by hosting a Republican debate to be held by CNN, WMUR, and the New Hampshire Union Leader on Monday, June 13, 2011, in Sullivan Arena. This will be the first presidential primary debate in New Hampshire for the 2012 election campaign and it will air live throughout the country from 8 to 10 p.m.
CNN, WMUR, and the Union Leader hosted the first Granite State presidential debates at Saint Anselm in 2007—events that helped introduce the Republican and Democratic candidates to voters in New Hampshire and around the nation.
Participants and Criteria to Participate
Saint Anselm College is providing venues for the June 13 debate and related activities, but we did not determine who would be invited to appear in the debate. That was a decision reached by the media sponsors, CNN, WMUR, and the New Hampshire Union Leader. They determined that the definition of a candidate was a person who was taking substantive steps towards a presidential run and had reached a minimum threshold in national or state polls.
For a full listing of the criteria, please refer to CNN.
Debate Ticket Availability
No tickets are available for the debate. Saint Anselm College was only provided a small number of tickets. The majority of tickets were distributed by the debate's media sponsors, CNN, WMUR, and the New Hampshire Union Leader. If you would like to be added to the ticket wait list, please complete our online ticket request form.