In 2016, there are 81 million millennials eligible to vote, according to Reuters. But only about 15,000 of them will be given front seat access to one of the final Democratic debates in Durham on Thursday night.
According to a press release on Sunday by MSNBC and Durham Town Administrator Todd Selig, Durham will hold a Democratic presidential debate on Feb. 4 at 9 p.m. eastern time.
“All three Democratic presidential candidates, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley are expected to attend,” the press release said.
The debate will be moderated by NBC’s “Meet the Press” Chuck Todd and MSNBC politics host Rachel Maddow. This will be Todd’s second stop in Durham along the campaign trails, as he visited campus once before in October.
According to Selig, the expected venue is the Johnson Theater within the Paul Creative Arts Center, where a debate was held 12 years ago.
“We have historically hosted debates at the Johnson Theater,” he said. “It probably lends itself more successfully to this type of event. Acoustics are good, it’s a nice stage and the audience isn’t too large.”
As for the media expected to roll into town Thursday, Selig assures that “Durham and UNH are no strangers to media frenzy and will deal with it with grace and style.”
“New Hampshire citizens value the right to vote and robust political debate,” Selig said in the press release. “In that spirit, we welcome the Democratic presidential candidates to Durham and the UNH campus on Thursday, Feb. 4, for a historic national debate which may well have a pivotal role in the outcome of the Democrat Presidential Primary on Feb. 9.”
With Selig referring to Durham in the press release as a “quintessential New England college town,” these three candidates will take to the battleground in which could influence the outcome of the first-in-the-nation primary.
Details regarding tickets or access to the event have not yet been released.