The Student Union’s Live Oak Lounge served as a satellite of the Journalism Building Wednesday night when Geaux Vote LSU and Student Government hosted a mock debate between student representatives from two of the four gubernatorial campaigns.
Political science junior Myles Sonnier, a Jay Dardenne intern, and political science junior Robert Lancon, a John Bel Edwards intern, covered topics ranging from TOPS to personal anecdotes of their respective candidates.
Sonnier said Dardenne does more with less and cut his lieutenant governor office’s budget. He said Dardenne’s experience puts him ahead.
Lancon said Edwards is the only candidate who supports equal pay for women and raising the state minimum wage.
“He will bring $16 billion of our tax dollars back to Louisiana in the next 10 years,” Lancon said.
One hour later, students flocked to the Holliday Forum to watch Edwards and Dardenne join Scott Angelle in a final debate before the election.
U.S. Sen. David Vitter, a Republican candidate for governor, was absent.
Each of the three men stood out at different points, Faircloth said. He appreciated Angelle’s stance against Vitter’s string of absences, which he said was important for students to understand.
Mass communication junior Joan Lyons agreed with Faircloth’s assessment of the candidate pool. Though as a Colorado native, Lyons does not vote in the state of Louisiana, she said the debate was an enlightening experience for an out-of-state student.
Lyons said she thought the winner of the debate was a toss-up between Edwards and Dardenne. Angelle brought all of his talking points back to the economy.
Economics and mass communication junior Jacques Petit said he has been closely following the governor’s race, and this debate seemed like “another repeat” of all the previous debates, although there were a few standout quotes in the mix.
Petit said Edwards stood out the most to him because of his numbers-based approach in the debate.
Other students could not determine a clear-cut winner.
While the debate offered students a “great view” of each candidate’s platforms, mass communication senior Matthew Bagot said he could not definitively say who won the debate.
“I think that it was a tie among all three candidates,” Bagot said, adding, “It’s a gubernatorial debate, and I think that all four candidates who are running should be there.”
Bagot was not alone in his disappointment in Vitter’s absence.
Lyons said Vitter’s lack of involvement is “frustrating.”
“[Those voters] would like to understand his point of view on other things,” Lyons said.
Petit agreed with Lyons’ remarks and said the tables should turn on the U.S. Senator.
“If David Vitter’s not going to show up for the Louisiana people, why should the Louisiana people show up to the voting booth for David Vitter?” Petit said.

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Ari Ross

Political science junior Myles Sonnier represents gubernatorial candidate Jay Dardenne during the LSU Student Government mock debate on Oct. 21, 2015, in the Live Oak Lounge of the Student Union.