Election '08

Congressional Town Halls

Overview

Over 200 voters throughout the state took part in one of three town halls to discuss key issues in their Congressional race. Participants at each of the three town halls worked together to develop a slate of questions for their Congressional candidates. The town hall preceded the live televised forum where the town hall participants asked the questions developed by the participants.

When and Where:  

  • 2nd Congressional District
    Southern New Mexico Town Hall, October 9, 1-8 pm
    Town Hall: Corbett Center (3rd Floor); Debate: KRWG (Milton Hall)
    (CD2 candidates: Harry Teague and Edward Tinsley)
    Forum aired live, October 9, 7 pm
  • 3rd Congressional District
    Northern New Mexico Town Halls, October 14, 2:30-8 pm
    Town Hall and Debate: Rio Rancho High School
    (CD3 candidates: Ben Ray Lujan, Daniel East, Carol Miller)
    Taped forum aired October 16, 7 pm
  • 1st Congressional District
    Albuquerque Town Hall, October 23, 1-8 pm
    Town Hall: Albuquerque Convention Center (East Complex); Debate: KNME
    (CD1 candidates: Martin Heinrich and Darren White)
    Forum aired live, October 23, 7 pm

NM CD1,2,3

Why was this project important?  

Citizens often feel disconnected from the election process and sometimes get sidetracked by the negativity that can accompany high-profile races. Unfortunately, the media can complicate the problem when they host political debates because they’re often focused on ratings, headlines, and “gotcha”-type questions. They may produce exciting footage, but not necessarily meaningful voter information.

While candidates benefit from face-to-face forums or debates with their opponents, they are understandably wary of them. Traditional debate formats often become a string of sound-bites, rather than a substantive dialogue on policy issues. And even when citizens are included through the traditional “town hall” debate, questions come from individuals who are as likely as TV anchors to use the moment to grandstand or try to embarrass one candidate over the other.

Given these issues with the traditional debate format, New Mexico First partnered with the New Mexico Public Broadcasters to convene three town hall deliberations, during which the participants developed consensus-based questions for candidates. Each town hall was comprised of diverse groups of 40-60 citizens. The half-day citizen deliberation led directly into televised roundtable forums with the candidates. The town hall participants became the studio audience for the forum and asked questions of the candidates, drawing exclusively from the pool of consensus questions developed earlier that day. The forum was moderated by veteran newsman Mark Bentley. The forums aired simultaneously on all three public television stations as well as pubic radio stations.